Mountains
2016
Oil on canvas
283 × 187.5 × 4 cm (111 7/16 × 73 13/16 × 1 9/16 in.)
A mountain landscape with lunar accents unfolds in shades of brown and grey. In front of the mountain, streams and rivers meander between strips of arid land.
At first glance, Mountains (2016) looks like a sketched landscape. It is actually based on a composition the artist made from aluminium foil on which he scattered clumps of earth and then painted onto the canvas. These "mountains" do not emanate the phenomenal, tranquil power they have in the collective imagination. Instead, composed of brittle materials, they are fragile. Tuymans challenges the viewer’s assumptions on depicting the object while alerting us to the depletion of nature and the threats it faces.
Mountains was presented for the first time by the Pinault Collection during the monographic show "La Pelle" (“The Skin”) at the Palazzo Grassi (2019-2020).
At first glance, Mountains (2016) looks like a sketched landscape. It is actually based on a composition the artist made from aluminium foil on which he scattered clumps of earth and then painted onto the canvas. These "mountains" do not emanate the phenomenal, tranquil power they have in the collective imagination. Instead, composed of brittle materials, they are fragile. Tuymans challenges the viewer’s assumptions on depicting the object while alerting us to the depletion of nature and the threats it faces.
Mountains was presented for the first time by the Pinault Collection during the monographic show "La Pelle" (“The Skin”) at the Palazzo Grassi (2019-2020).
Exhibitions
Photo © Studio Luc Tuymans
courtesy Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp
© Palazzo Grassi, Photography by Delfino Sisto Legnani e Marco Cappelletti.
Exhibition view, La Pelle, Palazzo Grassi, Venice, March 24 2019 – January 6 2020.
