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— FRESCOES —
Midnight in Belgium
¬ Famous Belgians
Original* 6 x 4 m | 2014
+ 4 x 2 m | printed in 5 copies on 5 mm Dibond (direct to plate)
*Commissioned by Claude Semal for the marquee of the show 'FritKot'
◼︎ STROMAE, thoughtful: "Fries are like life: sometimes they're tender, sometimes they're crunchy. But deep down, it's always the same thing, right?"
◼︎ ARNO, with a wry smile: "Exactly. It's an oil storm, a dance between love and grease."
◼︎ CÉCILE DE FRANCE, with a mischievous smile: "Fries speak all languages. They tell you secret stories, mayo adventures."
◼︎ BREL, with a theatrical air: "A fry is the cry of the Belgian soul, a cry that resonates in every bite!"
◼︎ POELVOORDE, bursting out laughing: "It's even a metaphor for existence, isn't it? You take it, you bite into it, and bam!" You see it melt. Like everything else."
◼︎ ADAMO, with a dreamy look: "French fries are a declaration of love. I'd even say they're the anthem of love in Belgium."
◼︎ GEORGES SIMENON, adjusting his glasses: "There's something sinister about a burnt fry. It tells you stories of loneliness and obsessions beneath the crust."
◼︎ MAGRITTE, adjusting his hat: "This is not a fry, but a universe in oil."
◼︎ PIERRE-PAUL RUBENS, in a solemn tone: "French fries are art. If you look at them closely, you see the shape of the world, bodies sculpted in oil."
◼︎ AMÉLIE NOTHOMB, rolling her eyes: "French fries are like existence: fleeting and irrational, but so delicious. There's no logic, just salt."
◼︎ HERGÉ, with a curious look: "I think there's a mystery in every French fry. A clue hidden in the grease... But you have to know how to find it."
◼︎ JCVD, standing up, crossing his arms: "French fries are like a battle. They resist oil, heat... and when you eat them, you're a champion."
◼︎ POELVOORDE, laughing: "A champion? You're a philosopher of fries."
◼︎ ARNO: "A champion for sure, but uh... are you sure you haven't had too much beer, JC?"
◼︎ JCVD, raising his glass: "No, fries are freedom of the mind, man."
◼︎ ARNO, with a wink: "Wow, fries are like Belgium. You don't have to understand everything, you just have to love it."
b
INTRODUCTION ‘The frescoes’ | JEAN-MARIE WYNANTS | Journalist | 2021
— The mural, for Lucas Racasse, is the magnum opus, the firework finale, the moment when all constraints blow apart. It’s where the artist lets loose, conjuring up encounters as improbable as they are exhilarating, crafting crowds made up entirely of familiar faces that viewers can spend hours identifying, one by one. While murals have often served to glorify the feats of our great men, the way Racasse seizes the genre throws out the rulebook entirely. Borrowing the faces of political, media, scientific, athletic, religious, philosophical, and musical figures, he assembles impossible gatherings that make us dream, hallucinate, laugh—or wince.
In Wonderland, the planet’s 100 richest personalities roar with laughter as they’re hurled along runaway roller coasters shaped like golden calves, while the apocalypse rages all around. In Inferno, history’s most notorious murderers cheer wildly at a boxing match between Cain and Abel, refereed by none other than Adolf Hitler. The Blessed Bath takes dozens of gods, saints, preachers, and other religious icons on a dip in paradisiacal waters. And he pushes even further in Belgica Sexicæ Unita, taking the phrase “Belgian mess” quite literally by staging a gigantic orgy with all our political figures.
Iconoclast, Racasse? No doubt about it. And he goes to great lengths to find, on each face, the perfect expression to match the role he assigns. But this contemporary Michelangelo doesn’t just revel in portraying the dark follies of the world. Sometimes he leaves Dante’s Inferno behind and leads us into Paradise. That’s how we get a spectacular gathering of hundreds of artists in a Parliamento we’d love to attend. Or a massive demonstration of global celebrities rallying behind the slogan “Free the Images.” Not to mention Midnight in Belgium, where all the country’s iconic figures gather around a fry stand in front of the Royal Palace.
“Formidable!” laughs Stromae.
“Surreal!” chuckles Magritte at the sight of a dancing fry and a Manneken Pis perched atop the Yellow Mark.
And you can bet that in just a heartbeat, they’ll all be howling in chorus with Arno:
“Damn, damn, it’s bloody great!”
Excerpt from the book Every Day Is Picture Day, published in 2022.
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■ Stromae | singer-songwriter ■ Marie Gillain | actress ■ Arno Hintjens | singer-songwriter ■ Pierre Paul Rubens | painter ■ Bouli Lanners | actor-director ■ Virginie Efira | actress ■ Natacha Régnier | actress ■ André Bialek | musician ■ Sandra Kim | singer ■ Amélie Nothomb | writer ■ Azrael - peyo | author-illustrator ■ Claude Semal | actor-singer-songwriter ■ Laurence Warin | actress ■ Jan Bucquoy | visual artist-director ■ Wim Delvoye | visual artist ■ Bill - Jean Roba | author-illustrator ■ Milou - Hergé | author-illustrator ■ Rantanplan - morris | author-illustrator ■ Jr semal | schoolboy ■ Intellectual Smurf - Peyo | author-cartoonist ■ Peyo | author-cartoonist ■ Pacha - Peyo | author-cartoonist ■ Pacha - Peyo | author-cartoonist Peyo | author-caricaturist ■ Prankster Smurf - Peyo | author-caricaturist ■ Marcel Broodthaers | visual artist ■ George Simenon | writer ■ Cécile de France | actress ■ Philippe Catherine | composer-guitarist ■ Jacques Brel | singer-songwriter ■ Salvatore Adamo | singer-songwriter ■ Jean-Claude Van Damme | actor ■ Toots Thielemans | composer-harmonica player ■ Olivier Gourmet | actor ■ Benoît Poelvoorde | actor ■ Philippe Geluck | author-cartoonist-TV & radio host ■ Yolande Moreau | director-actress ■ Marouane Fellaini | footballer ■ René Magritte | painter ■ Manneken-Pis | symbol of independent thinking ■ The Yellow Mark - Edgar P. Jacobs | author-designer ■ Gerardus Mercator | mathematician-geographer ■ Jean-Michel Folon | watercolorist-sculptor ■ Goofing Smurf - Peyo | draftsman ■ Marsupilamy - André Franquin | author-draftsman ■ Smurfette - Peyo | author-draftsman ■ Adolphe Sax | musical instrument maker ■ Noa Moon | singer-songwriter ■ Erika Cool | porn actress ■ Stany Falcone | porn actor ■ Elvis Pompilio | hatter-milliner ■ Didier Odieu | songwriter ■ Bruce Ellison | actor-singer ■ David Linx | songwriter ■ Tom Barman | songwriter-director ■ Marie Daulne | songwriter ■ BJ Scott | songwriter ■ Fabrizio Rongione | actor ■ Luc Dardenne | director-producer ■ Jean-Pierre Dardenne | director-producer ■ Jérémie Renier | actor ■ Émilie Dequenne | actress ■ Raymond Devos | comedian ■ Kim Clijsters | tennis player ■ Stéphane De Groodt | actor-host-writer ■ Marc Wilmots | footballer-coach ■ Enzo Scifo | footballer ■ Maurane | singer ■ Tintin - Hergé | author-illustrator ■ Justine Henin | tennis player ■ Archibald Haddock - Hergé | author-illustrator ■ Sister Smile | nun-singer ■ Le Grand Jojo | singer-songwriter ■ Sister Emmanuelle | nun ■ Gille de Binche | folkloric-revolutionary figure ■ Will Tura | singer-guitarist ■ Viktor Lazlo | singer-actor-novelist ■ Marc A. Huyghens | singer-songwriter ■ Marc Moulin | singer-songwriter-presenter-colonel ■ Lara Fabian | singer-songwriter ■ Eddy Wally | singer ■ Fabienne Vande Meerssche | journalist-presenter ■ Jacques-Ivan Duchesne | singer-songwriter ■ Stéphane Steeman | comedian ■ Picha | cartoonist-director ■ Romelu Lukaku | footballer ■ Joëlle Scoriels | TV presenter ■ Pierre Alechinsky | engraver-painter ■ Guy Peellaert | image artist ■ James Ensor | painter ■ Jan Fabre | visual artist-choreographer-director ■ Luc Tuymans | painter ■ Jacques Bredael | journalist-presenter ■ Jules Bordet | immunologist-microbiologist-Nobel Prize ■ Serge Reding | weightlifter ■ Le chat - Philippe Geluck | author-caricaturist ... ■ Front 242 | music group ■ Edgard Gunzig | physicist-cosmologist ■ Benni b | rapper ■ Lucky Luke - morris | cartoonist ■ Lambic - Willy Vandersteen | author-cartoonist ■ Perry Rose | singer-songwriter ■ Patrick Haemers | criminal ■ Pascal Duquenne | actor ■ Michèle Anne De Mey | dancer-choreographer ■ Jeff Bodart | singer-songwriter ■ Panamarenko | visual artist-inventor ■ Gilles Verlant | journalist-host ■ Daan | singer-songwriter-actor ■ Zorglub - André Franquin | author-cartoonist ■ Zénobe Gramme | electrician-inventor ■ Ernest Solvay | chemist-industrialist-boss ■ Ozark Henry | singer-songwriter ■ Gerard Mortier | opera director ■ Gabrielle Petit | resistance fighter ■ Chantal Akerman | director ■ Virginie Hocq | actress-comedian ■ Ilya Prigogine | physicist-chemist-Nobel Prize ■ Christian de duve | physician-biochemist-Nobel Prize ■ Maurice Grevisse | grammarian ■ Tatayet - Michel Dejeneffe | puppeteer-ventriloquist ■ Marsupilami - André Franquin | author-cartoonist ■ Raymond Goethals | football coach ■ Danny Klein | singer ■ Frédéric Jannin | cartoonist-humorist-musician ■ Stefan Liberski | director-screenwriter-humorist ■ Julos Beaucarne | storyteller-poet-writer-singer ■ Puggy | music group ■ Jacques Duvall | singer-songwriter ■ Khadja Nin | singer ■ Hadja Lahbib | director-journalist-TV presenter ■ Victor Horta | architect ■ Félicien Rops | painter-engraver ■ Lou Deprijck | singer-songwriter-producer ■ Plastic Bertrand | singer ■ Urbanus | singer-actor ■ Eugène Ysaÿe | violinist-composer-conductor ■ Eddy Merckx | cyclist ■ Jan Van Eyck | painter ■ Jaco Van Dormael | director ■ Alain Platel | choreographer-director ■ Léon Spilliaert | painter ■ Toone - José Géal | puppeteer ■ Jacky Ickx | racing driver ■ Malvira - Patrick Chaboud | puppeteer ■ Lio | pop singer ■ Axel Red | pop singer ■ Noël Godin | pie-thrower-agitator anarcho-humorist ■ Pipou | percussionist-composer ■ José van Dam | baritone-bass singer ■ Gérard Corbiau | director ■ Francois Damiens | actor ■ Annie Cordy | singer ■ Maurice Carême | writer-poet ■ Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker | dancer-choreographer ■ Machiavelli | rock band ■ Paul Delvaux | painter ■ Roberto | rocker ■ Maurice Maeterlinck | Nobel Prize for Literature ■ Pascal Bernier | visual artist ■ Ann Demeulemeester | stylist ■ Olivier Strelli | stylist ■ Dries van Noten | stylist ■ Pierre Rapsat | singer-songwriter ■ Jo Dekmine | director ■ Jean-Luc Fonck | singer-poet-humorist ■ Michel de Ghelderode | Author-columnist-writer ■ François Schuiten | designer-set designer ■ André Grétry | composer ■ Henri Pousseur | composer ■ Pierre Marcolini | chocolatier ■ Ghinzu | music group ■ Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui | dancer-choreographer ■ Dirk Frimout | astronaut
The famous Belgians missing from this fresco prefer to eat fries for lunch and are therefore absent.
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