Wim Delvoye

Captured in an X-ray, a couple are kissing. Their two chins overlap, adding depth to the transparency of the outlined face. In this *Kiss 5*, whilst exploring the themes of love and sexuality, Wim Delvoye shows us what we cannot see: the interior of the body and its functions. As in his famous Cloaca, a work that reproduces the human digestive system, he reveals the internal structures of the body and displays details as mundane as fillings or dental implants. This contemporary Belgian artist is one of the most recognised today. Here, he tackles a romantic theme with provocation and derision. Above all, he expresses a relationship with reality characteristic of Belgian art, with this contrast between a representation intended to be erotic and the anatomy of skulls that symbolise death. The depiction of skeletons and skulls, known as Vanitas, is an iconographic tradition inherited from the Renaissance and more particularly from the Baroque period. It has fascinated artists such as James Ensor and Delvaux. The skulls inserted into the still lifes suggested that human existence is vain and fleeting. Wim Delvoye’s Kiss series displays the pleasures of life and love, but in the manner of a memento mori, ‘remember that you will die’.

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