Gender roles in vibrant colours and the migration of The Last Supper

M presents two top exhibitions featuring contemporary art from home and abroad

March 22, 2023

M opens the first comprehensive retrospective of Belgian artist Leen Voet on 7 April. At the same time, the US artist Jill Magid has her first solo exhibition in Belgium. This means that M Leuven is giving two very different contemporary artists the chance to create new work and reach a wider audience.

For the first time, M brings a major exhibition offering an overview of Leen Voet's work. Her work has already been shown in our country with noted exhibitions at Wiels Brussels, Netwerk Aalst or CIAP in Hasselt, among others. M brings together 15 years of work, complemented by new creations and a publication.

At the same time, M is presenting new work by Jill Magid. 'The Migration of the Wings' is a contemplation in film and sculpture of one of Leuven's most iconic images: 'The Last Supper' (1464-8) by Dieric Bouts. Jill Magid's work has recently been shown in many leading art institutions worldwide, from Centre Pompidou in Paris to Renaissance Society in Chicago.

"With both exhibitions, M once again wants to highlight important artistic voices and show them to the public," says Bert Cornillie, alderman for culture and chairman of M's board of directors. "Leen Voet has an established body of work and has already made an important contribution to the contemporary art landscape. But until now, there has been no overall presentation of her work in our country. M also works as a platform for international artists. It is exceptional that Jill Magid has made a new film work especially for M, starting from the history of a collection piece from the 15th century."

Leen Voet

Leen Voet creates series of paintings that come together in spatial installations. In M, she shows several of those groups for the first time. The motivation and starting point for each series is a specific interest of the artist in both cultural practices and elements of her own environment. Her subjects prompt reflection on artistry, power relations and social structures including the family, autonomy, religion or education and the teacher-student relationship. In doing so, each sequence starts from its own logic, rules or regulations that lead to variations and new decisions. Her works question the viewer about our emotional connection to the things that surround us. How does context and expectation guide our gaze? How do we look at art? What can a painting be?

This comprehensive exhibition will bring together paintings and drawings from many different series from the past 15 years. Leen Voet has also created a new series for M – based on three paintings from the museum's collection – through which she addresses the motif of the artist's studio and the female model in art. Alongside it, the first monograph (Dutch/English) on her work entitled 'For all the Cats in the World' will be published. The book, jointly published by Ludion and M Leuven, is extensively illustrated, and includes an essay by Martin Germann and a conversation between the artist and Eva Wittocx.

"For the first time, several series from the past 15 years are brought together in a comprehensive exhibition, with numerous loans from collections," says Eva Wittocx, curator of the exhibition. "This allows the public to get to know all aspects of her extraordinary work. As part of this, the new series of paintings we are showing in M's tower room are an important new step in her practice."

Jill Magid

The exhibition by US artist Jill Magid (born 1973) uses sculptures and a film and sound installation to explore themes of exile and diaspora, war and repatriation. The film follows the movements of the triptych 'The Last Supper' (1464-8) that Dieric Bouts was commissioned to paint for St Peter's Church. The triptych was dismantled in 1707, when the central panel was stripped of its side panels. They then travelled on, both legally and under force, when they were used as reparations between Germany and Belgium. The work explores the striking contrast between the immobility of the central panel and the constant migration of the side panels, which depict scenes of the Jewish diaspora.

"For her first Belgian solo exhibition, Jill Magid created a new production born from one of Leuven's most valuable heritage treasures, 'The Last Supper' by Dieric Bouts," says Valerie Verhack, the exhibition’s curator. "The film, which has its international première at M, takes a closer look at how objects of art can be used as political pawns, and how they still can contain traces of violence."

Press preview

The press preview will take place on Wednesday 5 April 2023 in the presence of general director of M Leuven Peter Bary, the curators and the artists Leen Voet and Jill Magid.

Start: 9:45 am

Interviews are available on request via persm@mleuven.be

Practical info

M will festively open both exhibitions on Thursday 6 April at 20:00. Admission is free and there is no need to register.

The exhibitions will run from Friday 7 April to Sunday 10 September 2023. More information and tickets at mleuven.be/leenvoet and mleuven.be/jillmagid.