Michaël Borremans

Michaël Borremans: Biography, Career Facts, Books & Artworks

Michaël Borremans, born in Geraardsbergen in 1963, is a contemporary artist residing and working in Ghent, Belgium. Borremans is best known for his contemporary surrealism and figurative paintings marked by beauty, the absurd, and a strong conceptual foundation.

Besides painting, the Belgian artist—who is trained as a draughtsman and printmaker—also works in film, sculpture, installation, and very recently photography was added to this list. Borremans combines a baroque painterly technique with a highly conceptual subject matter.

Borremans examines the human condition. Doing so, he tries to create a conflict within the image which is not solvable and leads a life of its own in the mind of the viewer. Absurd juxtapositions evoke different analogies, varying from perversity to romance or from deep philosophical issues to pure slapstick humor.

I think many of his paintings are misunderstood because of their beauty. Sometimes I would like to say that they are too beautiful as people might think his oeuvre is very reactionary due to the use of traditional painterly techniques. But make no mistake, his works are much more than craftsmanships and skill as they are very conceptual and contemporary in subject matter.

However, as Borremans has stated, they are relevant because they are painted in this manner. The painterly technique creates an anachronism with its contemporary subject matter and composition. This notion functions as a continuum throughout his oeuvre can be seen as a contemporary art concept itself and has been an aspect of frequent occurrence since in contemporary painting. 

Considering his romantic attitude towards his métier, one cannot help but be enchanted by his delicate brushstrokes, contemporary compositions, ambiguous images and haunting beauty. Self-taught as a painter, with Velazquez (1599-1660) and Caravaggio (1571-1610) – to name a few – as his teachers, the Belgian master is an omnipresent figure for contemporary figurative painting and has had an immense impact on the current generation of painters.

Career Facts

Michaël Borremans is represented by industry leading art galleries such Zeno X Gallery in Antwerp or the mega-gallery David Zwirner. Borremans as participated in numerous major art events such as the Biennial of Sydney in 2018 in Australia, the Biennial of Yichuan in 2012 in China, the the Yokohama Triennial in 2011 in Japan, the Vilnius Triennial in 2010 in Lithuania, the Berlin Biennial in 2006 in Germany or Manifesta 5 in San Sebastian back in 2004 in Spain.

The Belgian painter has participated in group and solo exhibitions at major museum institutions such as the Museum of Contemporary in Kanazawa, Japan; Galerie Rudolfinum in Prague; Czech Republic; CAC in Málaga, Spain; the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo, Japan; The Cleveland Museum of Art in Cleveland, the United States of America; S.M.A.K. in Ghent, Belgium; Centre for Fine Arts (BOZAR) in Brussels, Belgium; the Dallas Museum of Art in Dallas, the United States of America; Tel Aviv Museum of Contemporary Art in Tel Aviv, Israel; the Kunsternes Hus in Oslo, Norway; the Kunstverein in Stuttgart, Germany; the Kunsthalle in Budapest, Hungary or the Kunsthalle Helsinki in Finland to name just a few.

As a result, it is no surprise to see the established artist featured in renowned public and private collections such as the Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago, the United States of America; the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, the United States of America; the Dallas Museum of Art in Dallas, the United States of America; the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, the United States of America; the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo, Japan; the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, the United States of America; the Hudson Valley for Contemporary Art in New York, the United States of America; the Kunstmuseum in Basel, Switzerland; the LACMA Los Angeles County Museum of Art in Los Angeles, the United States of America; the MOCA Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, the United States of America; the MoMA Museum of Contemporary Art in New York, the United States of America; the Musée d’Art Moderne de le Ville de Paris in Paris, France; the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the United States of America; the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver, the United States of America; the Museum Voorlinden in Wassenaar, the Netherlands; the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, Canada; the National Museum of Art in Osaka, Japan; the Offentliche Kunstsammlung in Basel, Switzerland; the Rubell Family Collection in Miami, the United States of America; the SFMOMA Museum of Modern Art of San Francisco, the United States of America; S.M.A.K. Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst in Ghent, Belgium; the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, Israel; the Wadsworth Museum of Art in Hartfrod, the United States of America and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, the United States of America.

For further reading, feel free to read our exhibition review on Michaël Borremans’ solo exhibition Coloured Cones at Zeno X Gallery in Antwerp here.

Books on Michaël Borremans

For further reading on Michaël Borremans, we highly recommend the following books:

• Julien Delagrange, Apologia. Kortrijk: CAI, 2021.
• Michaël Borremans: The Badger’s Song: Series 2013–2020. Köln: Walter König, 2021.
• Jeffrey Grove, Michaël Borremans: As Sweet as It Gets. Hatje Cantz: 2014.

Artworks