Jan Van Imschoot retrospective at S.M.A.K. reveals influential yet obscure figurative painter

A retrospective exhibition titled The End Is Never Near at S.M.A.K. in Ghent showcases the work of Jan Van Imschoot, a sixty-year-old painter largely unknown outside Belgium. Guest-curated by Dieter Roelstraete, the show occupies seven rooms and positions Van Imschoot as foundational to the 1990s figurative painting revival. His influence is noted on fellow Ghent artist Michaël Borremans, with works like 1998's Le Mensonge du Plomb suggesting a template for Borremans's cryptic style. Van Imschoot's diverse practice draws from Baroque art, Jan van Eyck, Johannes Vermeer, Édouard Manet, and the anticlerical Surrealism of Luis Buñuel, often exploring themes of religion, violence, and gender. Key works include Amore Dormiente (2018), a reinterpretation of Caravaggio's Sleeping Cupid; the 2006 series Repercussions, referencing 1940s muscle-building photos amid Belgian paedophilia cases; and La Canonisation du Hymen (1998) with sadomasochistic scenes. Other notable pieces are L'échange des bêtises (2021), reworking Manet's Déjeuner sur l'herbe with violent imagery; Typecasting of a Remembrance (2001), depicting Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring crying; and the 2007 Ladyboy series of transgender nudes. The exhibition also features ambiguous canvases like Maiden Flames and Virginity (1996) and Poltergeist (1995), alongside 2000's My decent daughter. The show runs through 3 March, presenting an artist who operates independently of broader fame.