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16/9/2002

Wim Delvoye

Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester

Belgian artist Wim Delvoye is a rising star in international art. For Manchester Art Gallery, Delvoye has created an exhibition of new work on a Gothic theme.

A series of glass windows named after the nine muses of Greek mythology are dramatically displayed in the Gallery's new exhibition space. Brightly coloured pieces of glass are interspersed with images created by old and new methods of seeing into the body: X-rays, ulstrasound and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging). These represent life and death, and mix the sacred and the profane, the beautiful and the morbid. They have been specifically made by master craftsmen under the artist's direction.

In the middle of the Gallery, there are two huge earth movers resembling miniature Gothic cathedrals. These are new works specifically made for Manchester. They are computer designed; one is made from sheets of laser-cut MDF kitchen work surface and one is made from steel.

Wim Delvoye's art is extremely eclectic and can be divided into different themes, of which the Gothic is one strand. Whilst he has deeply serious intentions, Delvoye also applies his own sense of humour to create unique and challenging work.

Cloaca, his most recent and controversial project was exhibited in Antwerp last year. Delvoye employed scientists and engineers to make a machine which replicated the workings of the human gut; a full-size production line turned a daily hot meal into faeces. As well as being hugely popular, this was a compelling and thought provoking show about our relationship to our own bodies. Previously, he commissioned wood carvers to make beautiful full size concrete mixers in rosewood and teak - his cement truck which took a year of working with craftsmen in Java was one of the big hits of the 1999 Venice Biennale. In Antwerp, for a show at the Open Air Museum of Sculpture in Middleheim, he approached the tattooists of the red light district in Antwerp to tattoo their designs on pigs who were thus turned into works of art and saved from the butcher's block.

Wim Delvoye has exhibited in galleries world wide and also at Documenta IX and the 1999 Venice Biennale. Wim Delvoye lives and works in Ghent.

The exhibition is supported by the Henry Moore Foundation and the Flemish Community of Belgium.

A full colour catalogue will be available.

Manchester Art Gallery
Mosley Street Manchester M2 3JL.
Opening Hours
Manchester Art Gallery re-opens to the public from 25 May 2002.
Tuesday-Sunday 10.00am-5.00pm
Closed Mondays except Bank Holidays.
Also closed 1 January, Good Friday, 24-26 and 31 December.

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