Leading Belgian artist Luc Tuymans paints ‘Giant Maggot’ against war and violence

Only when you look from a distance do you see what this is: an enormous, ominous, pale maggot, enlarged to cover an entire wall at the Z33 Arts Centre in Hasselt. The creature is the work of Luc Tuymans, one of Flanders’ and Belgium’s most important contemporary artists. It took shape in just a few days, based on a smaller oil painting that Tuymans is exhibiting in Los Angeles (USA).

‘Maggot’ as the work’s title. “I deliberately painted it across the entire wall. The head is the first thing you see. And those two red patches are like the insignia on a uniform,” the artist points out. “It creates the effect of an attack.”

“In principle, a maggot is an intruder, a symbol of decay. But it also has a medicinal side, because it eats away dead tissue.” It fits perfectly into this exhibition, says Tuymans. “A multi-layered image that the viewer can complete.” An image that both attracts and repels.

The Hasselt exhibition is called ‘Before Our Eyes’ and is about what we see in the news every day: war and violence. And about how artists respond to this, explains curator Tim Roerig. “We live in a time of immense change in which the law of the jungle seems to apply more and more. Through the media, we are collectively witnessing the immense violence in Gaza. The question is: what is your position and responsibility as a viewer?" 

To watch or look away, to reveal or conceal? Uncomfortable questions for both artists and viewers. Luc Tuymans advocates a certain critical distance: “People are currently overwhelmed by everything that is happening, via the media and social media. When there is such an abundance of violent images, you tend to become indifferent and numb.”