Two sculptures in Corten steel plating (1988)
The figure that is lying down and the three standing silhouettes are reduced to sober, strictly geometrical shapes in which grooves and openings suggest eyes. In this sturdy and oppressive work, we can recognise an impressive monument to the dead (inspired by the name of the station) which as a call to everyone to live together in peace, and to share suffering. To begin with, Antoine Mortier hesitated to accept the offer of designing a work of art for a metro station. He was worried that it was not a suitable environment for conserving paintings and he was hesitant because at first glance he could not see a solution to the problem given the nature of the work. When visiting the construction site he was struck by the material and the mass of a long concrete block in one of the entrances. This inspired him, and the idea slowly developed to create two imposing high relief metal sculptures, which would be mounted on each side over the full length of the wall.
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ANTOINE MORTIER (1908 – 1999)
Antoine Mortier followed evening classes at the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Brussels whilst at the same time working at a wide range of different jobs. He quickly showed a preference for drawing and painting. Confronted with the realities of existence and with the tragic events of the war, Mortier expresses his innermost emotions in a tormented, moving and expressive art. From then on, Mortier expressed himself with powerful signs, imposing shapes and glowing colours which incite emotion, passion, exaltation, aggression, tenderness, obsession, mystery and death. Antoine Mortier was a member of the “Jeune Peinture Belge” (Young Belgian painting) and was an isolated forerunner of what is known today as “Action Painting”. Although the form is abstract, he can be compared with Permeke. His works have a monumental character.
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