Maria Lassnig
Der ort der bilder

The Austrian artist Maria Lassnig is without doubt one of the most important female artists of the last hundred years. It was however not until the last fifteen years that the interest and recognition for the work of Lassnig grew exponentially.

The exhibition at the museum Dhondt-Dhaenens is in this respect the first individual museum presentation of Maria Lassnig in Belgium. It was realized in cooperation with the Neue Galerie Graz / Universal- museum Joanneum and the Deichtorhallen Hamburg.

The exhibition Der Ort der Bilder is not retrospective but rather focuses on several important ensembles that shaped the career and the work of the artist. Most of the works in the exhibition have rarely been shown previously, as they were kept in the artist’s collection.

The oeuvre of Maria Lassnig, although seemingly quite heterogeneous, often centres on the recurring theme of the self-portrait and the exploration of the own body. She does not paint ‘external’ images; her images originate from the inner mind, the imagination, and the dream.

This is why the works of Lassnig are often referred to as ‘Endogene Bilder’ (Endogenous Images): these are paintings that originate in the body without being a representation of it.

The exhibition Ort der Bilder was previously shown in Neue Galerie Graz (17.11.2012—28.04.2013) and Deichtorhallen Hamburg (21.06.2013—08.09.2013).