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Almine Rech

Are Men Unicorns?

Oct 25 — Dec 21, 2018 | Brussels

Inquire about the exhibition: inquiries@alminerech.com

Almine Rech Gallery is pleased to present Are Men Unicorns?, a new exhibition by Ida Tursic & Wilfried Mille, their fourth with the gallery and their second in Brussels.

Tursic & Mille began collaborating in 2000, the start of a new Millennium marked by a near-constant deluge of photographic images and technological, social, and political upheavals that seem to occur at a perpetually accelerating pace. From the very beginning, they have deliberately sought to simultaneously embrace and critically understand what place their primary medium of painting can occupy in such circumstances, wielding it like a weapon to place an ancient and versatile pictorial technology at the forefront of a dynamic practice.

Tursic & Mille have assigned themselves the task of creating artworks that both have staying power and are also “new and interesting,” to paraphrase a long-ago recurring feature in now-defunct French magazine Actuel. They do so in a militant manner, by using in a whimsical, humorous way a medium too often touted as dead, a defiant and radical choice if there is one in today’s Zeitgeist. Moreover, though ambitious, their paintings are never arrogant or condescending. They remain approachable and enjoyable for all. With light touches, Tursic & Mille deflect the apparent magnitude of their aspiration, deftly mixing actual painterly touch-ups with the inclusion of offbeat figures such as the recurring presence of their Border Collie Maximus, who often appears as a small detail within a large-scale painting. Other recurrent images include Bettie Page’s silhouette, flowers, and actual landscapes like Cézanne’s original inspiration, Mont Sainte-Victoire.

- Noëllie Roussel

Press release

  • read or download in English
  • lire ou télécharger en Français
  • lezen of te downloaden in het Nederlands

Selected artworks

  • Are Men Unicorns, 2018

    Are Men Unicorns, 2018

    Oil on wood
    46 x 37 x 6 cm
    18 1/8 x 14 5/8 x 2 3/8 inches

  • Silver landscape, eight multicolored, 2018

    Silver landscape, eight multicolored, 2018

    Oil on silkscreened canvas
    215 x 190 x 5 cm
    84 5/8 x 74 3/4 x 2 inches

  • Silver landscape, seven multicolored, 2018

    Silver landscape, seven multicolored, 2018

    Oil on silkscreened canvas
    215 x 190 x 5 cm
    84 5/8 x 74 3/4 x 2 inches

  • Tursic & Mille,                                      Silver landscape, four multicolored, 2018

    Tursic & Mille Silver landscape, four multicolored, 2018

    Oil on silkscreened canvas
    215 x 190 x 5 cm
    84 5/8 x 74 3/4 x 2 in

  • Silver landscape, three multicolored

    Silver landscape, three multicolored,

    Oil on silkscreened canvas
    215 x 190 x 5 cm
    84 5/8 x 74 3/4 x 2 inches

  • Silver landscape, multicolored 1, 2018

    Silver landscape, multicolored 1, 2018

    Oil on silkscreened canvas
    215 x 190 x 5 cm
    84 5/8 x 74 3/4 x 2 inches

  • Flowers, 2018

    Flowers, 2018

    Oil on wood
    74 x 100 x 21,5 cm
    29 1/8 x 39 3/8 x 8 1/2 inches

  • Little fire, 2018

    Little fire, 2018

    Oil on wood
    73 x 19 x 19 cm
    28 3/4 x 7 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches

  • Male nude and yellow flowers, 2018

    Male nude and yellow flowers, 2018

    Oil on canvas
    200 x 300 x 5 cm
    78 3/4 x 118 1/8 x 2 inches

  • Zizi, 2018

    Zizi, 2018

    Oil on wood
    225 x 50 x 48 cm
    88 5/8 x 19 5/8 x 18 7/8 inches

  • La licorne amoureuse, 2018

    La licorne amoureuse, 2018

    Oil on wood
    146 x 120 x 21,5 cm
    57 1/2 x 47 1/4 x 8 1/2 inches

  • Black flowers, 2018

    Black flowers, 2018

    Oil and silver on canvas
    200 x 300 x 5 cm
    78 3/4 x 118 1/8 x 2 inches

  • Bettie, 2018

    Bettie, 2018

    Oil on wood
    184 x 235 x 5 cm
    72 1/2 x 92 1/2 x 2 inches

  • Nude and colors, orange and blue, 2018

    Nude and colors, orange and blue, 2018

    Oil on canvas
    180 x 135 x 5 cm
    70 7/8 x 53 1/8 x 2 inches

  • Nude and colors, flesh tones, 2018

    Nude and colors, flesh tones, 2018

    Oil on canvas
    180 x 135 x 5 cm
    70 7/8 x 53 1/8 x 2 inches

  • Nude and colors, green, 2018

    Nude and colors, green, 2018

    Oil on canvas
    180 x 135 x 5 cm
    70 7/8 x 53 1/8 x 2 inches

  • L’inquiétante licorne pachydermique, 2018

    L’inquiétante licorne pachydermique, 2018

    Oil on wood
    105 x 82 x 5 cm
    41 3/8 x 32 1/4 x 2 inches

  • Blue smear, 2018

    Blue smear, 2018

    Oil on wood
    215 x 123 x 3 cm
    84 5/8 x 48 3/8 x 1 1/8 inches

  • Eaten by the mouse still life, 2018

    Eaten by the mouse still life, 2018

    Oil on canvas
    250 x 200 x 5 cm
    98 3/8 x 78 3/4 x 2 inches

  • Grinning soul, 2018

    Grinning soul, 2018

    Oil on wood
    212 x 122 x 38 cm
    83 1/2 x 48 x 15 inches

  • Ô toi que j'eusse aimée, ô toi qui le savais !, 2018

    Ô toi que j'eusse aimée, ô toi qui le savais !, 2018

    Oil on wood
    234 x 122 x 29 cm
    92 1/8 x 48 x 11 3/8 inches

  • Eaten by the mouse pink nude, 2018

    Eaten by the mouse pink nude, 2018

    Oil on canvas
    160 x 135 x 5 cm
    63 x 53 1/8 x 2 inches

  • Untitled, 2018

    Untitled, 2018

    Oil on aluminium
    200 x 300 x 6 cm
    78 3/4 x 118 1/8 x 2 3/8 inches

  • Happy bichon

    Happy bichon,

    Oil on wood
    92 x 60 x 18 cm
    36 1/4 x 23 5/8 x 7 1/8 inches