M HKA Ensembles

Print, 50 x 63 cm.

Collection: Collection M HKA, Antwerp (Inv. no. S0286).

These bodies have been reduced to a pair of shadowy silhouettes, joined together in a continuous form. While their features – along with other details, such as the position of a hand or a hint of a tie – are faintly visible beneath a wash of dark colour, the possible meaning of their congres scan only be guessed at based on their amplified body language. On the left, a curved spine and an outstretched hand, on the right, a rigid, formal bearing. With both content and context blocked out, Tuymans presents the bare envelope of social relations: a placeholder for communication. The original piece consisted of a collage affixed to the inside of a book cover that served as the basis for a later painting of the same motif.