Berlinde de Bruyckere

Berlinde De Bruyckere was born in Ghent, Belgium in 1964, where she currently lives and works.
Berlinde De Bruyckere's work deals with the transformation, transcendence, and reconciliation of bodies in the face of mortality. These bodies are often animal, human or inanimate. She is often inspired by the legacies of the European Old Masters and Christian iconography, as well as mythology and cultural lore. Berlinde De Bruyckere plays on existing histories and imagery with new narratives that are suggested by the artist's choice and then manipulation of materials.
Since her first exhibition in the mid-eighties, De Bruyckere's sculptures and drawings have been the subject of numerous solo and group exhibitions in major institutions worldwide. These include: No Life Lost, Artipelag, Stockholm, Sweden (2024); Crossing a bridge on fire, Centro Cultural de Belem, Lisbon, Portugal (2023); City of Refugee I, Commanderie de Peyrassol, Flassans sur Issole, France (2023); City of Refugee II, Diocesanum Museum Freising, Freising, Germany (2023); Berlinde De Bruyckere. PLUNDER/ EKPHRASIS, MO.CO, Montpellier, France (2022); Berlinde De Bruyckere, PEL/ Becoming the figure, Arp Museum, Remagen, Germany (2022); Berlinde De Bruyckere. Engelenkeel, Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht, The Netherlands (2021); Aletheia, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin (2020); It almost seemed a lily, Hof Van Busleyden, Mechelen, Belgium (2019); Il Mantello (5x5x5 event for Manifesta 12), Church of St. Venera, Palermo (2018); Berlinde De Bruyckere, Sara Hilden Art Museum, Tampere, Finland (2018); Embalmed, Kunsthal Aarhus, Denmark (2017); Berlinde de Bruyckere. Suture, Leopold Museum, Wien, Austria (2016) Berlinde De Bruyckere. No Life Lost, Hauser & Wirth New York (2016); Berlinde De Bruyckere. Penthesilea, Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporaine, Strasbourg, France (2015); Berlinde De Bruyckere. The Embalmer, Kunsthaus Bregenz, Bregenz, Austria (2015); Berlinde De Bruyckere. The Embalmer, Kunstraum Dornbirn, Dornbirn, Austria (2015); Berlinde De Bruyckere, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, The Hague, The Netherlands (2015); Berlinde De Bruyckere. In the Flesh, Kunsthaus Graz, Graz, Austria (2013); Philippe Vandenberg & Berlinde De Bruyckere. Innocence is precisely: never to avoid the worst, De Pont Museum of Contemporary Art, Tilburg, The Netherlands (2012), which travelled to La Maison Rouge – Fondation Antoine de Galbert, Paris, France (2014); We are all Flesh, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne, Australia (2012); The Wound, Arter, Istanbul, Turkey (2012); Mysterium Leib. Berlinde De Bruyckere im Dialog mit Cranach und Pasolini, which opened at Kunstmuseum Moritzburg, Halle, Germany, and travelled to Kunstmuseum Bern, Switzerland (2011); DHC / ART Foundation for Contemporary Art, Montreal, Canada (2011); and 'E.n', De Pont Foundation for Contemporary Art, Tilburg, The Netherlands (2005).
In 2013 De Bruyckere was selected to represent Belgium at the 55th Venice Biennale where she unveiled her monumental work Kreupelhout – Cripplewood, a collaboration with Nobel Prize novelist J.M. Coetzee.
Recently De Bruyckere has extended her field of activity towards the performing arts as a Scenographer, in close collaboration with photographer Mirjam Devriendt. Projects include: Mariavespers, Holland Festival, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2017); Nicht Schlafen Les Ballets C de la B, Ruhrtriënnale, Bochum, Germany (2016), touring to Sadler's Wells, London (2017), and Penthesilea La Monnaie, Bruxelles, Belgium (2015).