Narcisse Tordoir

° 1954, Mechelen (Belgium )
Lives and works in Antwerp (Belgium)

www.narcissetordoir.com

Works

STILL-LIGHT - pastel on print (2015) - 340 x 415 cm

STILL-LIGHT - pastel on print (2015) - 340 x 415 cm (DETAIL)

SILENT LIGHT - pastel on paper on dibond (2015) - 71x75cm

STILL LIFE - pastel on print (2015) - 340 x 450 cm

STILL LIFE - pastel on print (2015) - 340 x 450 cm (DETAIL)

STILL-LIFE - pastel on print (2015) - 64 x 49 cm

SLEEPWALKER - pastel on paper on dibond (2015) - 330x180cm

SLEEPWALKER - pastel on paper on dibond (2015) - 330x180cm (DETAIL)

SLEEPWALKER - pastel on paper on dibond (2015) - 64x46cm

DE-LIGHT - pastel on paper on dibond (2015) - 340x320cm

DE-LIGHT - pastel on paper on dibond (2015) - 340x320cm (DETAIL)

DE-LIGHT - pastel on print (2015) - 60 x 80 cm

GRAVEL BEAT - pastel on paper on dibond (2015) - 340x250cm

GRAVEL BEAT - pastel on paper on dibond (2015) - 340x250cm (DETAIL)

THE PINK SPY IV - pastel on paper on dibond (2013) - 340x425cm

THE PINK SPY IV - M HKA Antwerp installation view

THE PINK SPY V - pastel on paper on dibond (2013) - 340x560cm

SHOES - pastel on paper on dibond (2014) - 120x150cm

THE PINK SPY III - pastel on paper on dibond (2013) - 340x320cm

THE PINK SPY III - pastel on paper on dibond (2013) - 340x320cm (Exhibition view, museum Plantin Moretus)

THE PINK SPY III - pastel on paper on dibond (2013) - 340x320cm (DETAIL)

ANGEL - pastel on paper on dibond (2015) - 62x45cm

PLANT - pastel on paper on dibond (2014) - 104x130cm

COAT - pastel on paper on dibond (2014) - 104x130cm

Biography

Narcisse Tordoir’s visual language can be called swell dynamic, bold and intriguing. For more than three decades he reinvents the act of painting. As an artist he is constantly trying out new possibilities where media and style are mixed. In a flashy way he challenges himself and his audience, both content wise as in his technical approach. His works are full of bravado, simultaneously subtle and in your face. Like no other he weaves romance with harsh reality, history with actuality, moving pictures with static, madness with seriousness. He raises painting to an act, a performance that continues to resonate long after. Tiepolo, the Arab revolution, news and history, gods and fairy tales, war and piece, all components of Tordoir’s imaginary world that he brings to the canvas or paper, with paint of fragile pastels constructing new stories through the eye of the master painter in the true tradition of Flemish greatest.

Narcisse Tordoir represented Belgium at the Venice Biennale in 1988 and he was senior advisor of the Rijksakademie (Amsterdam) till 2015. He exhibited in several museums in Belgium and abroad, and thereby he often invited (and collaborated with) other artists. In 1999 he curates Trouble Spot Painting in collaboration with Luc Tuymans. In 2014 Tordoir showed monumental pastel drawings in his exhibition The Pink Spy at M HKA, Antwerp. Publications include Are we changing the world (Extra City, 2005), The Way of the World (CC Mechelen, 2009) and The Pink Spy (M HKA, 2014).

Curriculum Vitae

2018: Fake Barok, Koninklijke Musea voor Schone Kunsten van België, Brussels (solo); Narcisse Tordoir & Fendry Ekel, CC Strombeek, Strombeek-Bever; Kunstvestdagen, different locations, Mechelen
2017: Tiepolo’s Silence, Wilfried Lentz, Rotterdam; Superdemocratie, Belgische Senaat, Brussels, group exhibition curated by Bart De Baere and Pierre-Olivier Rollin
2016: Narcisse Tordoir, Wilfried Lentz, Rotterdam; Follow the White Cube, Honold Fine Art, Ubud, Bali; Regards Partagés (collectie Rudy Joseph), musée Marthe Donas, Ittre
2015: Narcisse Tordoir - De plaats van het tekenen in het scheppingsproces, Museum Plantin Moretus, Antwerp (solo); Recente aanwinsten, M HKA, Antwerp; Works on paper, Galerie Van De Weghe, Antwerp; Gravel Beat / Sleepwalker, Galerie Van De Weghe, Antwerp (solo); Tordoir verkent Tiepolo, Museum Het Valkhof, Nijmegen (solo)
2014: The Pink Spy, M HKA, Antwerp; The Pink Spy, Galerie Duan, Paris (solo); Capita Selecta, Broelmuseum, Kortrijk; The Part In The Story Where A Part Becomes A Part of Something Else, Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam
2013: About Waves - Refiguratie CC Strombeek, Strombeek-Bever
2012: The Pink Spy, Galerie Van De Weghe, Antwerp (solo); Switch, Galerie Dukan Hourdequin, Paris; Collectie XXII M HKA, Antwerp; About Waves - Refiguratie CC Strombeek, Strombeek-Bever
2011: Meesterwerken in het MAS, Vijf eeuwen beeld in Antwerpen, Antwerp; Colorless green ideas sleep furiously, Galerie Dukan Hourdequin, Paris; Untitled, Galerie Van de Weghe, Antwerp
2010: Square 1, Galerie Van De Weghe, Antwerp; Tegenlicht, SMAK, Gent; Ecce Homo Ludens, Musée Régional d’Art Contemporain Languedoc-Rousilllon, Sérignan; An unpardonable sin, Castillo/Corrales, Paris
2009: The Way of the World, Cultuurcentrum Mechelen; Picture this!, Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Deurle; Textiles, M HKA, Antwerp; A Story of the Image: Old & New Masters from Antwerp, National Museum of Singapore; A Story of the Image: Old & New Masters from Antwerp, Shanghai Art Museum , Shanghai
2008: Confronting the Image, Elements MoCA, Beijing; Honorons Honoré, De Garage, Mechelen; Dry and wet paintings, Crown Gallery, Brussels; The ARC Collection, Office for Contemporary Art, Amsterdam
2007: Kunst als Leben, Kunsthaus Bern, Bern; Bad Dad, Objectif (retribution), Objectif Exhibitions, Antwerp; Strike a pose, Circuit, Lausanne; Dry and wet paintings, Crown Gallery, Brussels; Jubilee, M KHA, Antwerp
2006: Shakalakaboum, Lamot, Mechelen; Modern People, Crown Gallery, Brussels
2005: Collaborate works, Extra City, Antwerp; Dear ICC, MuKHA, Antwerp; de wereld deugt, wij een beetje minder, De Appel, Amsterdam
2004: Working Ethics, Krinzinger Projecte, Wien; Artists Favourites, ICA , London
2003: Kunstenaars in beweging, De Markten, Brussels; De Collectie, MuKHA, Antwerp; Bogodia, Centre Soleil d’Afrique, 5ième Rencontres de Bamako Biennale; Tears of the skull, De Watertoren, Vlissingen
2002: 9 Points of view, Ronse; Legaat R.De ROECK-Vos, Factor 44, Antwerp
2001: Editions, Stella Lohaus Gallery, Antwerp; CLICK, Centre Soleil d’Afrique, 4ième Rencontres de Bamako Biennale
2000: The Dancant, Galerie Nadia Vilenne, Luik; Galerie Milco Onrust, Amsterdam; Echap, Centre Soleil d’Afrique, Bamako
1999: Trouble spot: Painting MUKHA, Antwerp
1997: N.T.Z.T., Centraal Museum, Utrecht
1998: Vive la Peinture, l’Aquarium, Galerie d’Ecole, Valenciennes; Narcisse Tordoir, Galerie Onrust, Amsterdam; François Curlet, Michel François, Han Schuil, Narcisse Tordoir, Galerie Fortlaan 17, Gent
1995: Tim Ayers, Narcisse Tordoir, Alan Uglow, Galerie Onrust, Amsterdam
1994: Link, The Contemporary Art Company, Den Haag; (group) Galerie Onrust, Amsterdam
1993: Narcisse Tordoir, Galerie Annette De Keyser, Antwerp; Narcisse Tordoir, Galerie Onrust, Amsterdam; Kunst in België na 1980, Museum voor Moderne Kunst, Brussels
1992: Woord en Beeld in de Belgische Kunst, Museum voor Moderne Kunst, Brussels
1991: Narcisse Tordoir, Galerie Joost Declerq, Gent; Narcisse Tordoir, Galerie Onrust, Amsterdam; Luc Deleu, Guy Rombouts-Monika Droste, Narcisse Tordoir, Rijksmuseum Kröller-Müller, Otterlo
1990: Narcisse Tordoir, Galerie Joost Declerq, Knokke; (group), Ponton, Temse; (group), Beelden Buiten, Tielt; Belgique, une nouvelle génération, FRAC du Pays de la Loire, Clisson; Beeldenstorm 1990, M HKA, Antwerp
1989: Narcisse Tordoir, Galerie Joost Declerq, Gent; Narcisse Tordoir, The Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin; (group), Jack Tilton Gallery , New York
1988: XLIII BIENNALE–DI–VENEZIA, Belgian Pavillion, Venice; Narcisse Tordoir, Art & Project, Amsterdam; Narcisse Tordoir, Gallery Laure Gennilard, London; Gran Pavese, The Flag Project, M HKA, Antwerp; De Verzameling/The Collection, M HKA, Antwerp
1987: Narcisse Tordoir, 121 Art Gallery , Antwerp; Narcisse Tordoir, Paleis voor Schone Kunsten, Brussels; (group), Studio Massimi, Roma; Déconstruction, Hallen van Schaarbeek, Brussels
1986: Narcisse Tordoir, Galerie De Lege Ruimte, Brugge; 6 Young Flemish Artists, Art Society of the International Monetary Fund, Washington; Abstraction ‘86’, 121 Art Gallery, Antwerp; Een Keuze, KunstRAI, Amsterdam; Initiatief 86, Sint-Pietersabdij, Gent; Portraits de scène, l’Ile de Phoques, Casa Frollo, Venezia; Portraits de scène, Musée d’Ansembourg, Liège
1985: Narcisse Tordoir, Galerie Plus-Kern, Brussels Narcisse Tordoir’, Galerie ‘t Venster, Rotterdam; Beelden in de Plancius, Art & Project, Amsterdam
1984: Narcisse Tordoir, Vereniging voor het Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst, Gent; Le Musée de Voyag’, Espace 251 Nord, Liège
1983: Narcisse Tordoir, Art & Project, Amsterdam; Narcisse Tordoir, 121 Art Gallery , Antwerp; Jonge Kunstenaars uit het Antwerpse, Museum Dhont-Dhaenens, Deurle
1982: Het picturaal verlangen/Le désir pictural, Galerie Isy Brachot, Brussels; De magie van het beeld/La magie de l’image, Vereniging voor tentoonstellingen van het Paleis voor Schone Kunsten, Brussels
1981: Narcisse Tordoir, 121 Art Gallery , Antwerp; Picturaal 1, Recente schilderkunst in Vlaanderen, ICC, Antwerp
1980: Narcisse Tordoir, Associates, Enschede; A week of Informations about Selforganisations, Kleiner Ausstellungsraum, Hamburg
1979: The Many Faces of Modern Art, Old House, Brentwood
1978: Today’s Place, The Registry Gallery, San Francisco
1977: Performance Art, Galerie New Reform, Aalst; Performance Art, R.H.O.K., Brussels; Performance Art, Stadsarchief, Kassel