Michaël Borremans: Fire from the Sun

The first in a series of small-format publications devoted to single bodies of work, Fire from the Sun highlights Michaël Borremans’ (born 1963) new paintings, which feature toddlers engaged in playful but mysterious acts with sinister overtones and insinuations of violence. Borremans’ depiction of the uncanny and the bizarre often surprises sometimes disturbs the viewer. In this series, children are presented alone and in groups against a studio-like backdrop that negates time and space while underlining the theatrical atmosphere and artifice that exists throughout Borremans’ recent work. Reminiscent of cherubs in Renaissance paintings, the toddlers appear as allegories of the human condition, their archetypal innocence contrasted with their suggested deviousness.

In his accompanying essay, critic and curator Michael Bracewell takes an in-depth look into specific paintings.