From 7 October 2023, we will open the doors to the first retrospective dedicated to the work of Belgian artist Jan Van Imschoot. 'The End Is Never Near' follows a rough chronological trajectory of more than three decades and showcases more than eighty canvases. Van Imschoot is internationally known for his intimate, enigmatic works from the early 1990s and his recent large-scale, historically inspired tableaux.
Van Imschoot belongs to a generation of artists who laid the foundations for the critical reappraisal of figurative painting during the 1990s. Among his peers, Van Imschoot's work occupies a unique place because of the profound art-historical awareness from which he paints. Contemporary subjects such as gender, identity, war and peace, he views from sources of inspiration such as the Dutch 17th century, Tintoretto, Caravaggio and especially Edouard Manet, the archetypal peintre de la vie moderne.
Besides the classical history of Western painting, film and literature also serve as important pillars in Van Imschoot's creative universe. By focusing on these too, the exhibition aspires to bring Jan Van Imschoot's world to life within the walls of S.M.A.K.
