jan fabre
from the feet to the brain
june 6 to september 20, 2009
curator: eckhard schneider
inviting curator: giacinto di pietrantonio


jan fabre
the future merciful heart for men and women.
glass, bIC pen blue, human bones
each 0,83 x 1 x 2,10 m
installation view 2nd floor
photo: markus tretter
© jan fabre/VBK, wien, 2008, kunsthaus bregenz


jan fabre's new work series ‘from the cellar to the attic - from the feet to the brain,’
which he elaborated for the kunsthaus bregenz in 2008, represented an important step
in his work development. with five room-filling sculptural tableaus, fabre created a mythical
world of horror, beauty, and metamorphosis that was hardly conceivable inconventional
artistic terms and constantly alternated between reality and dream. the installation followed
the layout of the human body. five exhibition levels with metaphoric titles borrowed from
different zones of the body - starting with the feet in the basement and ending with the brain
on the upper level. courtesy of the galleria d'arte moderna e contemporaneadi bergamo (gamec),
studio fabre, the kunsthaus bregenz and the support of linda and guy pieters, jan fabre will
be installing his five sculptural tableaus at the 53rd venice biennale, showing it to a broad
international art audience.

with the installation ‘from the feet to the brain,’ fabre ponders the artistic rules of his work
and the bounds of his previous artistic practice. his basic principles can be broken down as
follows: 1. the awareness of the power of the images of the real that was discovered in the
flemish primitives, further developed through the visual force of performances and theater,
and finally emerged in the form of sculptural tableaus; 2. the extreme concentration on the
body as the crystallization point between life and death, agony and fulfillment; 3. the fascination
for the insect as a symbol of metamorphosis, as the subject of intense investigations, and as
an important material for rawings, objects, and wall and room-filling installations; 4. the constant
application of the mechanical, self-driven principle in all artistic activities, a principle that
originates from the discovery of the body and the behavior of insects; 5. the fascination for
mirroring and doubling, which is the point of departure for many works.

'the feet,' 'the sex,' 'the belly,' 'the heart,' and 'the brain' - these five elements, each in its own
way visually overwhelming, will be presented anew in the halls of the arsenale novissimo.


'the feet'


jan fabre
shelter-studio for the chilean artist-warriors and cleaning ladies
cement, wood, cloth, amunition, human brains and organs, stuffed
animals, glass, water, formaldehyd, bic pen blue, silicon, metal
installation view first basement
photo: markus tretter
© jan fabre/VBK, wien, 2008, kunsthaus bregenz



'the sex'


jan fabre
fountain of the world (as a young artist)
granite, goldcolour, leather, cloth, silicon, human hair, fluid, electronics
0,80 x 4,25 x 10,5 m
installation view ground floor
photo: markus tretter
© jan fabre/vbk, wien, 2008, kunsthaus bregenz



'the belly'


jan fabre
I had to break down a part of the ceiling of the royal palace because
there was something growing out of it
wood, plaster, metal, armor of juwel beetle, silicon
5,6 x 9,6 x 10,4 m
installation view 1st floor
photo: markus tretter
© jan fabre/VBK, wien, 2008, kunsthaus bregenz


jan fabre
I had to break down a part of the ceiling of the royal palace because
there was something growing out of it
wood, plaster, metal, armor of juwel beetle, silicon
5,6 x 9,6 x 10,4 m
installation view 1st floor
photo: markus tretter
© jan fabre/VBK, wien, 2008, kunsthaus bregenz



'the heart'


jan fabre
the future merciful heart for men and women.
glass, bIC pen blue, human bones
each 0,83 x 1 x 2,10 m
installation view 2nd floor
photo: markus tretter
© jan fabre/VBK, wien, 2008, kunsthaus bregenz



'the brain'


jan fabre
in the trenches of the brain as an artist-lilliputian
wood, earth, polyester, wax, silicon, leather, cloth, human hair
installation view 3rd floor
photo: markus tretter
© jan fabre/VBK, wien, 2008, kunsthaus bregenz


jan fabre
in the trenches of the brain as an artist-lilliputian
wood, earth, polyester, wax, silicon, leather, cloth, human hair
installation view 3rd floor
photo: markus tretter
© jan fabre/VBK, wien, 2008, kunsthaus bregenz