Jan Fabre (b. 1958, Antwerp) is regarded both in Belgium and abroad as one of the most innovative and versatile personalities in the contemporary international art scene. Over the past 40 years, he has made his mark as a visual artist, theatre artist and author.

He describes himself as a consilience artist, explaining: “It’s a merging of elements from different disciplines guided by fact-based theory and practice across disciplines. An understanding of entomology can, for example, lead to new interpretations within the visual arts. Or vice versa - you see connections (for example across art, theatre, science, religion, medicine, politics), you make new interpretations. This is consilience.” Thanks to this undertaking, Fabre offers fresh interpretations to the world of visual art, theatre and literature. 

Jan Fabre changed the idiom of theatre by bringing real action and real-time onto the stage. Following his historic eight-hour production 'This is theatre like it was to be expected and foreseen' (1982) and the four-hour 'The Power of Theatrical Madness' (1984), he explored new territory with 'Mount Olympus. To glorify the cult of tragedy, a 24-hour performance' (2015); a monumental marathon piece with which he rewrote international theatre history.

In his visual oeuvre, Jan Fabre has developed a unique and coherent world; a highly personal visual language with recurring symbols and motifs. Whilst studying in Antwerp at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts and the Municipal Institute for Decorative Arts and Crafts, he developed a profound love of beauty and its spiritual power. Curious by nature and influenced by the manuscripts of the entomologist Jean-Henri Fabre (1823-1915), Jan Fabre became fascinated by the world of insects at a young age.

The interaction between human and animal, and between animal and human, is an important component of metamorphosis, and is thus a constant in Fabre's body of thought. Research into the meaning of the body is essential in the oeuvre of Jan Fabre: the body is the entrance to every emotion, thought and higher contemplation. Fabre uses interventions on his own body to explore its fluid boundaries. This is an endless quest for the self, the shell which serves as the entrance to deeper contents. The artist's enduring fascination with the body is also strongly apparent in the personal actions and performances, from 1976 to today.

Jan Fabre has been invited to integrate artworks into various public locations in Belgium and abroad, including 'The Man Who Measures the Clouds' (1998), which can be seen at various sites in Europe and Asia. In Brussels, you experience 'The Gaze Within (The Hour Blue)' (2011-2013) in the stairwell of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts and 'Heaven of Delight' (2002) at the Royal Palace. You can find 'Totem' (2004), an installation depicting a jewel beetle on the Ladeuzeplein in Leuven which became a symbol of the city. In Antwerp, the artist's hometown, you encounter 'The Man who Bears the Cross' (2015) in the Cathedral of Our Lady. In the same city, Fabre created three altarpieces in the footsteps of Rubens, Jordaens and Van Dyck in St. Augustine's Church/AMUZ. Like 'Heaven of Delight', these altarpieces are made with the wing cases of jewel beetles. His latest addition to his public installations is four red coral sculptures in the chapel of Pio Monte della Misericordia in Naples (2019), in dialogue with a masterpiece of Caravaggio.

As well as being a visual artist and a theatre artist, Jan Fabre is also a respected author. His large oeuvre of theatre texts is regarded as a reference by theatre directors, academics and performers alike. The Jan Fabre Teaching Group passes on his theatre texts and specific language of ‘physiological acting’, as an instrument to new generations of artists all over the world. Throughout his life and career, the artist also continues to write literary texts. His daily personal musings and (often poetic) thoughts are collected in the ‘Night Diaries’, which have been published in several languages worldwide. 

Solo exhibitions 
 

2022 Jan Fabre. La saggezza del Belgio, Galleria Gaburro, Milan, Italy 
Jan Fabre. Allegory of caritas (An act of love), Galleria Muciaccia, Roma, Italy / London, UK 
Sprigionarti, 2022 - Capitale Italiana della Cultura, Palazzo D’Avalos, Procida, Italy 
Jan Fabre. Homo aquaticus and his planet, Certosa di San Giacomo, Capri, Italy  
Studio Trisorio / Project Wall, Studio Trisorio, Capri, Italy 

2021 The shape of gold, Buildingbox, Milan, Italy 

2020 Jan Fabre. The Castles in the Hour Blue, Musée des Beaux Arts, Arras, France
L’Heure Savage, Templon Gallery, Brussels, Belgium 
Feast of Little Friends, National Museum, Belgrade, Serbia 

2019 Jan Fabre. The Rhythm of the Brain, Palazzo Merulana, Rome, Italy 
Revolution is us – La rivoluzione siamo noi, Autostrada Biennale, Prizren, Kosovo 
The Man Who Measures the Clouds (Monument to the Measure of the Immeasurable), Palazzo Balbi Valier, Canal Grande, 58. Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy 
L’uomo che sorregge la croce, Pio Monte della Misericordia, Naples, Italy 
Le garçon qui porte la lune et les étoiles sur sa tête, FOndation Linda e Guy Pieters, Saint-Tropez, France 
L’uomo che misura le nuvole, Museo Madre, Naples, Italy 
Oro rosso. Golden and Coral Sculptures, Blood Drawings, Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte, Naples, Italy 
Omaggio a Hieronymus Bosch in Congo, Studio Trisorio, Naples, Italy  

2018 Loyalty and Vanity, Gallery 604 + Project B6, Busan, South Korea 
Jan Fabre. The castles in the hour blue, Building Gallery - Basilica of Sant’Eustorgio - Portinari Chapel, Milan, Italy 
Jan Fabre – Ecstasy & Oracles, several locations in Monreale and Agrigento, Manifesta 12, Palermo, Italy 
Ma Nation: L’imagination, Maegh Foundation, St. Paul de Vence, France 
Folklore Sexuel Belge (2017-2018) Mer du nord sexuelle belge (2018). Edité et offert par Jan Fabre, le bon artiste belge, Galerie Templon, Paris, France 
My Queens, Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels, Belgium 
Jan Fabre. The appearance and disappearance of Bacchus, Antwerp, Christ (2016). Special creations for The State Hermitage Museum, Galerie Templon, Brussels, Belgium 
Jan Fabre. Stigmata. Actions & Performances (1976-2018), Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo, Sevilla, Spain 
Maskers, MAGAZZINO, Rome, Italy 

2017 Viewing boxes, thinking models and drawings (1977-2008), Deweer gallery, Otegem, Belgium 
Jan Fabre. Stigmata. Actions & Performances (1979-2017), Leopold Museum, Vienna, Austria 
Jan Fabre. Glass and bones sculptures 1977-2017, Abbazia di San Gregorio, Venice, Italy 
Le carnival des morts, BRAFA, Brussels, Belgium 

2016 Jan Fabre. Knight of despair / Warrior of beauty, The Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia 
Jan Fabre. Stigmata. Actions & Performances (1979-2016), MAC Lyon, Lyon, France 
Falsification de la fête secrète IV (Carnival), Guy Pieters Gallery, Knokke-Heist, Belgium 
When Will I Be Little Again?, Cricoteka, Krakow, Poland 
Jan Fabre. Tribute to Hieronymus Bosch in Congo, Het Noordbrabants Museum, The Netherlands 
Jan Fabre. Vanitas Vanitatum, Omnia Vanitas, Deweer Gallery, Otegem, Belgium 
Jan Fabre. Tribute to Belgian Congo, a selection, Amsterdam Art Rooms, Amsterdam, The Netherlands 
Jan Fabre. Spiritual Guards, Forte Belvedere; Piazza della Signoria, Palazzo Vecchio, Florence, Italy 
Jan Fabre. Knight of the night, Ronchini Gallery, London, United Kingdom 

2015 Sacrum Cerebrum, Art Bärtschi & Die, Geneve, Switzerland 
The man who bears the cross, At The Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium 
Belgique, Galerie Templon, Paris, France  
30 years / 7 rooms, Deweer Gallery, Otegem, Belgium 
The years of the hour blue, MAGAZZINO, Rome, Italy 
Knight of the knight, Galleria Il Ponte, Firenze, Italy 
The drawing room [II], Deween Gallery, Otegen, Belgium 
Tribute to Hieronymus Bosch in Congo, Espace Louis Vuitton, Tokyo, Japan 
Jan Fabre. Stigmata. Actions & Performances (1979-2015), MHKA, Antwerp, Belgium 
The Lime twig men, At The Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium 
Jan Fabre. Tribute to Hieronymus Bosch in Congo (2011-2013), Wetterling Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden 
Facing time. Félicien Rops/Jan Fabre, Musée Rops, Namur, Belgium 
Tribute to Hieronymus Bosch in Congo (2011-2013). Tribute to Belgian Congo (2010-2013), Galerie Templon, Paris, France 

2014 Do We Feel With Our Brain And Think With Our Heart?, MAGAZZINO, Rome, Italy 
The Spiritual Sceptic, At The Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium 
Zeno Brains Ans Oracle Stones, La Llotja, Palma de Mallorca, Spain 
Jan Fabre. Do We Feel With Our Brain And Think With Our Heart?, Galerie Daniel Templon, Brussels, Belgium 
Jan Fabre. Insectentekeningen En Insectensculpturen 1975-1979, Rijksmuseum Twenthe, Twenthe, The Netherlands 
Jan Fabre. Tribute to Belgian Congo (2010-2013) & Tribute to Hieronymus Bosch In Congo (2011-2013), PinchukArtCentre, Kiev, Ukraine 

2013 Jan Fabre. The Years Of The Hour Blue, Busan Museum, Busan, South Korea 
Tribute to Hieronymus Bosch in Congo & Illuminations (2011-2013), Palais des Beaux-Arts, Lille, France 
Jan Fabre. Stigmata. Actions & Performances (1979-2013), MAXXI, Rome, Italy 
Jan Fabre. Skulls & Mosaics, Chemin des Trious, Saint Paul de Vence, France 
Jan Fabre. Insektenzeichnungen & Insektenskulpturen 1975-1979, Kunsthalle Recklinghausen, Recklinghausen, Germany 
Jan Fabre. Chalcosoma, Skulpturenpark Waldfrieden, Germany 
Gisants (Hommage Aan E. C. Crosby & K. Z. Lorenz), Galerie Templon, Paris, France  

2012 Art Is Medusa, Giuseppe de Nittis Gallery – Palazzo della Marra, Barletta, Italy 
Jan Fabre. Insektenzeichnungen & Insektenskulpturen 1975-1979, Ikob, Eupen, Belgium 
One Man's Death Is Another Man's Chocolate & 9 Chapters, Galerie Klüser, Munchen, Germany 
Jan Fabre. Chalcosoma, Guy Pieters Gallery, Knokke-Heist, Belgium 
Vidéodanse, Les Trente Ans, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France 
Jan Fabre. Chapters I-XVIII. Waxes & Bronzes, Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels, Belgium 
Zeno Brains and Oracle Stones, Mario Mauroner Contemporary Art, Vienna, Austria 
Jan Fabre. Kerkmeester, Dam Square, Amsterdam, The Netherlands 
Tribute to Hieronymus Bosch in Congo, MAM Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria 
Working Drawings Jan Fabre (1984), MAM Vienna, Weihburggasse 26, Vienna, Austria 
Pietas, Park Spoor Noord, Antwerp, Belgium 
Rollercoaster - Het Beeld Van De 21ste Eeuw, MOTI, Breda, The Netherlands 
De Jaren Van Het Uur Blauw, Musée d’Art Moderne, Saint-Etienne Métropole, France 

2011 Pietas, Nuova Scuola Grande di Santa Maria della Misericordia, Fondamenta della Misericordia, 54. Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy 
Jan Fabre. The Years of the Hour Blue, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Picture Gallery, Vienna, Austria 
Hortus / Corpus, Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo, The Netherlands 

2010 Alternative Humanities: Jan Fabre & Katsura Funakoshi, 21st century Museum of Contemporary art, Kanazawa, Japan  
Jan Fabre. Le temps emprunté, Museo Carlo Bilotti Aranciera di Villa Borghese, Rome, Italy 
Art kept me out of jail. Performance installations by Jan Fabre 2001-2004-2008, MHKA, Antwerp, Belgium  

2009 Jan Fabre. From the Feet to the Brain, Arsenale Novissimo, 53. Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy

2008 Jan Fabre. From the Cellar to the Attic. From the Feet to the Brain, Kunsthaus Bregenz, Bregenz, Austria 
Jan Fabre au Louvre: l’ange de la métamorphose, Musée du Louvre, Paris, France  

2007 Antropologie Van Een Planeet, Palazzo Benzon, Venice, Italy 

2006 Homo Faber, M HKA, Antwerp, Belgium 

2001 Umbraculum, different locations 


 

Group exhibitions 

2022 The collection of the National Museum of Art, Osaka: 100 years of contemporary art, Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum, Hiroshima, Japan 
Collection exhibition 2 blue, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan 
Triple Take, Wilde Gallery, Basel, Switzerland 
The Brain. In Art & Science, Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn, Germany 
Mode surreal - A crazy love for wearing, Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum, Japan 

2021 Thailand Biennale Korat, Korat, Thailandia 
Glasstress. Window to the Future, St. Peterburg, Russia 
Poes. Hoe de kat de mens vangt, Yper Museum, Yper, France 
Purity on its knees, Pilevnely Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey 

2019 Looking Forward, Kateleer Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium 
One way ticket to Mars, Kunsthal KAdE, Amersfoort, The Netherlands 
Where we now stand— in order to map the future [1], 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan  
PIKANT!, The Phoebus Foundation, Jersey, The Netherlands 

2018 La collection BIC, Le centre-quatre, Paris, France 
Promises of a face, Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels, Belgium 
As far as the eye can see, Kunsthalle Würth, Kunzelsau, Germany 
In tribute to Jack Tilton: a selection of works from 35 years, Tilton Gallery, New York, USA 

2017 The artist/knight, Gaasbeek Castle, Gaasbeek, Belgium 
Art festival in Aardenburg, St. Bavo’s Church, Aardenburg, The Netherlands 
Celibatair Divas, The Abbey of Herkenrode, Hasselt, Belgium 
Fragile State, PinchukArtCentre, Kyiv, Ukraine 
Antidoron. The EMST Collection, Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany 
The beauty of the beast, D'Ursel Castle, Hingene, Belgium 
Forever & beyond. A tale about drawings, At The Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium 
L'attention au réel, The Musée des Beaux-Arts de Caen, Le Château, Caen, France 
Glasstress, Palazzo Franchetti, Venice, Italy 
Hair and feathers, Musée de Flandre, Cassel, France 
Maria, Museum Catharijne Convent, Utrecht, The Netherlands 
Collector's Room # 14: black / white, Deweer Gallery, Otegem, Belgium 

2016 Urgent conversations: Athens – Antwerp, EMST, Athens, Greece  
Under the spell of Bosch, Het Noordbrabants Museum, Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands 
Another World, Museum Dr. Guislain, Ghent, Belgium 
Renaissances, Un Hommage Contemporain À Florence, Fondation Etrillard, Paris, France 
Glass, Villa dei Vescovi, Padova, Italy 
Vanitas, Maison de Consuls, Matelles, France 
Divine Decadence, Kasteel van Gaasbeek, Gaasbeek, Belgium 
Intrigantes Incertitudes. Dessin Contemporain, MAMC, Saint-Priest-en-Jarez, France 

2015 Skelet, Museum Beelden aan Zee, Scheveningen, The Netherlands 
Post Mortem, UGent, Ghent, Belgium 
I belgi. Barbari e poeti, Vanderborcht, Brussels, Belgium 
I belgi. Barbari e poeti, MACRO, Rome, Italy 
La ou commence le jour, LaM Lille, France 
The importance of being, MACBA, Buenos Aires, Argentina 
Anima / Animal, Abbaye Royal de Saint - Riquier, Saint – Riquier, France 

2014 Passions Secrètes, Tripostal, Lille, France 
Collector's Room #7, Deweer Gallery, Otegem, Belgium 
Fabrica Vitae, London, United Kingdom 
Vie della Scultura, Villa Bertelli, Forte dei Marmi, Italy 
The Symbiosis Of Physicality And The Spiritual, Residenz – Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria 
Michelangelo E Il Novecento, Palazzina dei Giardini, Galleria civica di Modena, Modena, Italy 
Stille Kracht. Een Onderzoek Naar Rituelen In Hedendaagse Kunst, De Warande, Turnhout, Belgium 
Health - Something Of Value, National Bank of Belgium, Brussels, Belgium  

2013 Illuminations, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Lille, France 
Wunderkammer, Academia Belgica, Rome, Italy 
Vanitas Revisited, Gallery Ronny van de Velde, Knokke, Belgium 
Museum To Scale 1/7, Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels, Belgium 
Middle Gate Geel '13, St. Dimpnakerk, Geel, Belgium 
Les Aventures De La Vérité Peinture Et Philosophie, Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul de Vence, France 
Baza(A)R Belg(I)E, CENTRALE  for contemporary art, Brussels, Belgium 
Framed - By Ted Noten, Stedelijk Museum ‘s Hertogenbosch, Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands 
Wunderkammer Venezia 2013, Palazzo Widmann, Venice, Italy 
Fragile - Murano. Chefs-D'oeuvres De Verre De La Renaissance Au XXI Siècle, Musée Maillol, Paris, France 
Ballpoint Pen Drawing Since 1950, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, Connecticut, USA 
Babel, Palais des Beaux Arts de Lille, Lille, France 
Speaking Artists, Busan Museum of Art, Busan, South Korea 
Venice International Performance Art Week, Palazzo Bembo, Venice, Italy 

2012 Cross-Examinations #3 These And Other Works. Explaining Belgian Art To A Foreigner, Extra City Kunsthal, Antwerp, Belgium 
Collection1, Works From The October Salon Collection, The Cultural Centre of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia 
R/Evolution On Paper. Five Centuries of Drawings from the Klüser Collection, Alte Pinakothek, München, Germany 
From Head To Toe Human Images In The Focus Of The Würth Collection, Kunsthalle Würth, Schwäbisch Hall, Germany 
Schriftuur / Scripture, Bond, Bruges, Belgium 
Re-Opening, Deweer Gallery, Otegem, Belgium 
Theatre Of The World, Museum of Old and New Art, Australia 
Babel, Palais des Beaux Arts de Lille, Lille , France 
Mindmap. Een Manifestatie Over Kunst En Psychiatrie, Odapark, Venray, The Netherlands 
Forte Piano: Le Forme Del Suono, Auditorium Parco della Musica, Flaminio – Rome, Italy 
Son Et Lumière - Material, Transition, Time, MOTI, Breda, The Netherlands  
Son Et Lumière - Material, Transition, Time, 21st century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan 
Struggle(S), Maison Particulière, Art Center, Brussels, Belgium 
Bookshowbookshop, Be – Part, Platform for contemporary art, Waregem, Belgium 
GOUD, Galerie Belvedere, Vienna, Austria 

2011 De Dood Leeft, Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands