Ik zie ik zie wat jij niet ziet, part of group exhibition,

Salon des Jeunes. Curated by Schoonvolk.

07.10.2021 — 16.01.2022, MSK Gent

Images by Martin Corlazzoli

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The illustrator looks at the painter’s work while being looked at themselves - both by the photographer and by you, the visitor. Similarly, the figure that Ensor depicts and places in the middle of the space is being looked at by someone else from a distance through the open door. The two works are linked by a series of the same kind of looking: an observant regard. The person looking at the painting is deliberately drawn into this act of looking. The photographer in the image is not only capturing a view of the subject, but is also aiming at the viewer outside of the image. 

I associate looking and being looked at with people’s excessive photography  of places they visit, monuments or trips to art exhibitions, which turn up so abundantly on social media and elsewhere. There is a trend whereby if there is no photo evidence, the moment did not actually take place. As an illustrator I am also guilty or capturing Ensor’s work and turning it into a fictitious visit to see art.