As the spectacular retrospective of Jan Van Imschoot’s art at the Ghent SMAK comes to an end, the Flemish painter unveils his latest work in Brussels: an exploration of evil through the ages. This latest show is the fruit of a rigorous and meticulous process of exploration inspired selected museum masterpieces and archives. Jan Van Imschoot narrates a story unfurling across 17 baroque and colourful canvases. The butterfly, symbol of the soul or the psyche, flutters unobtrusively through the paintings, now an opulent, dark form concealing, eclipse-like, a Mexican firing squad, now landing on the face of Leopold II, the dynastic figure behind the bloodthirsty colonisation of the Congo by Belgium. Capital punishment is a recurring theme: as an object of fantasy, source of intimidation, vestige of history or national folklore. Under the discreet patronage of Caravaggio, Van Imschoot offers a fresh interpretation of the myth of Holofernes murdered by the seductive Judith.

He depicts the enchanting Mata Hari, victim of occupied France. He portrays a scene from Chinese television, fictional but perverse, of the last day of 2 a sentenced woman, held captive by two police officers and draws the outlines of a young South African woman in the hands of her executioner in a white jacket and top hat. “For the world to believable, we need diverging views and confrontation between these views,” explains the artist. “Art, in all its forms, plays a vital role in this humanist necessity. Art makes our thinking more flexible, lets our minds travel beyond borders.” In his hands, the painting becomes a playground for exploring the triangular relationship between his three greatest passions: art, language and truth.