2012 will see the third edition of the Biennial of Painting. This exhibition project arose through the museum operation of both the Roger Raveel Museum and the MDD, which aims to contextualize and update the recent art historical past. Artists represented in the museums’ own collections form the starting point of each exhibition. The purpose of the biennial is to present, every two years, an approach to the painting of the last hundred years, both from a specific perspective and in a subjective way.

Even though the starting point of the Biennale is well defined, the concept, in terms of content, is developed independently by both institutions. In this way, the MDD will select a more limited number of artists, yet bring together larger ensembles per artist, while the Roger Raveel Museum will more likely choose to browse through modern painting on the basis of a broader selection of artists. The 2012 edition brings the Image of Man into focus: how did artists in the twentieth and twenty first century represent man and what were their intentions?

-Press Release for the Biennial.