Mondo Cane is the title of the exhibition by Brussels artists Jos de Gruyter and Harald Thys that represented the Belgian pavilion and won a special mention award during the last Venice Art Biennial in 2019 is now showing at the Bozar in Brussels.
On one side, this exhibition showcases a reassuring world, with familiar craftsmen of yesteryear, working their old trades and on the other, a darker and more disturbing side , populated with the psychotic or mentally ill, common criminals, collaborators, spies or souls possessed of by devil. To add to the general feeling of discomfort, about half of these dolls are automated, performing repetitive actions as you move around. A bit of the Adventures of Tintin but for adults, if you like…
This exhibit is held at the Bozar only until 21st of July 2020
Pictures of the “Mondo Cane†Exposition

The Knife-Grinder of Wexford

Franceline De Veugeleir

Mosquetero sin dinero of his real name Raf Smulkens

De Belder Guido, the inventor of Magical Abstract Realist Romanticism

Closeup on the face of De Belder Guido, the painter

The Rat woman
At her feet the rat and the filth

The face of the rat woman

Rocco Swenty Di Malaga, the ventriloquist

Jacobina Bienebol, the daugher of the preacher

Closep-up on the face of Jacobina Bienebol

Ilse Koch

The Swiss murderer

The face of Klottemans

Irmgard Speck, the introverted

Closer look at the detail of the face of Irmgard Speck

Flip standing on the cart

Kristinus Oplinus, the devout catholic turned Satan’s spawn

Bartholomeus De Bie, the bell man

Ernst Wollemenger, the STASI spy

Ernst Wollemenger doll close-up

Samuel Simons playing the piano

Reverand Simons


Madame Legrand, the German collaborator