This publication examines the intersection of art and politics, through the deeply engaged work and thought of two contemporary artists.
8 December 2022 was the opening date for Mercy, a joint exhibition by Zlatko Kopljar and Luc Tuymans in Vilnius, Lithuania. The history shared by the two artists, as well as the fact that they both cerebrate the consequences of historical narratives in their practice, provided the background to their joint exhibition in a city where the ghosts of history are actualised on a daily basis.
The book Mercy (Politics) has its origins in the exhibition Mercy. It contains in-depth interviews with the artists about the politics in and of their work, and about their political views. The interviews were conducted prior to 7 October 2023. Nevertheless, the insights given by the artists, covering a range of topics from post-Colonialism to the "Woke movement", are given additional significance in light of the war in Gaza, which, like the ongoing war in Ukraine, has shaken the world to its core and rearranged established definitions of moral and cultural positioning, further undermining the already compromised distinction between aesthetics and politics.
Luc Tuymans (born 1958) is a Belgian artist based in Antwerp. He is a key figure of the generation of European figurative painters who gained renown at a time when many believed the medium had lost its relevance due to the new digital age.
Zlatko Kopljar (born 1962 in Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina) is an artist based in Zagreb, Croatia. He works in a variety of different media including photography, video and performance.
