De Stadscollectie Antwerpen is a lively tribute to the artists who give colour to the city of Antwerp. From emerging talent to established names, this collection highlights local creativity but also the global influence of Antwerp’s art scene. Welcome!

Martin Margiela

(c)Martin Margiela
Vanitas, 2019
Installation , 90 × 255 × 50 cm
silicone, natuurlijk en kunstmatig geverfd haar

 

 

 

 

Since leaving Maison Margiela in 2009, Martin Margiela (°1957, Genk) has devoted himself exclusively to the visual arts. The Vanitas installation is made of five silicone balls of artificial skin into which natural hairs have been implanted. The work is an abstract portrait of a woman and the traces left by the passage of time. Unlike the Dutch vanitas paintings of the 17th century that often evoke the vanity of earthly goods, knowledge and pleasures, Margiela's installation seems to show man himself as a representation of vanity. The Vanitas installation was purchased together with the Fashion Museum Antwerp (MoMu).