° 1954

Lives in Antwerp (BE), born in Mechelen (BE).

Narcisse Tordoir (°1954, Mechelen, Belgium) starts his career with experimental performances, alternative actions and spatial installations. Gradually, he elaborates a genre that might be called 'spatial painting', in which he plays with the potential to break through the painting's plane.

In the 1980s, Tordoir integrates pictorial and three-dimensional components to enhance the overall effect: paintings hung together at right angles, voids between painted panels, small objects and mirrors that reflect fragments of images in the works. Tordoir plays visual games, often borrowing strategies from art history. A recent example is the series with large-scale tableaux vivants that combine stage photography and painting and in which he refers to the 'empty' allegory of Giambattista Tiepolo (1696-1770).

In these and other works by Tordoir, time and memory play an important role. They are visual puzzles that evoke a multitude of associations and possible interpretations.