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Rombouts through the eyes of Susan from Grindr, Dirk Braeckman and Helena Mayorga Paredes

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The MSK asked three artists from Ghent to stand eye-to-eye with a work by Theodoor Rombouts, and to reflect on it from a personal perspective.

Susan from Grindr is the co-founder of the Ghent drag collective House of Lux, and an established name in Belgium’s drag community. Through her drag persona, she works to show that gender is nothing more than a construct. Inventive, expressive outfits are the ultimate tools of her trade.

With her eagle eye for fashion and colour, Susan looked The Backgammon Players (ca. 1632, North Carolina Museum of Art).

Photographer and visual artist Dirk Braeckman has exhibited his work countless times in Belgium and abroad, and he represented Belgium at the 57th Venice Biennale. His work, which often features darkly photographed images, is in top collections around the world.

Dirk chose the painting Company with Bacchus, (1634, Robilant + Voena), and looked for what we can learn from the light and small details in paintings.

Belgian-Chilean musician Helena Mayorga Paredes was the first female guitarist to graduate from the Ghent Conservatory. In January 2023, with her band Mayorga, she won De Nieuwe Lichting 2023, a talent search organised by Studio Brussel. Things took off like a rocket, and in June Mayorga will play at the Werchter festival.

From her expert perspective as a musician, Helena looked at Woman Playing Guitar (ca. 1625–30, private collection).