BRING THE BOYS BACK HOME

Antwerp, 2012-2020 

The depiction of these uniforms are not a idolisation of their individualistic ideology.

Bring the Boys back Home is an answer to the upcoming connotations of eroticism and shame of the nude (male) body in art-photography.
To be deprived of clothes may simply reference pure innocence and youth. For much of history nude men were represented martyrs and warriors.

The photographs in this series are an extract from a bigger project, consisting of reproduced grey-tone battle flags, blown up body parts, stacked panels (3d collage) of large-scale laser prints. These loose elements question what divides and what unites us; how displaced- and stolen art during the Napoleonic reign as well as during WWII resembled the displacement of people, refugees as well as soldiers.

some spreads from BoysBoysBoys Vol 04 published by The Little Black Gallery, London, 2022.

Each individual work is translating a part from a bigger imaginary Triptych, deconstructed into individual scenes. Referencing the art looting and the disappearance of the Just Judges panel of the Ghent Altarpiece.

How by stacking works together - like they were hidden in the Austrian Altaussee Salt Mines -creates a new narrative, brings pieces from an artist - before divided throughout Europe - back in to one space, as a mirror for the displacement of people during a war.
The black & white laser print reproductions linking to the catalogues of looted art Göring put together for Musée Jeu de Paume in Paris during WWII. 

 The image of the soldier, in full armour, or bare chested, resembling strength and unity, but also cancelling out individualism. When we turn that image upside down, we are confronted with their vulnerability – questioning this concept of strength, force and power. 

some spreads from BoysBoysBoys Vol 04 published by The Little Black Gallery, London, 2022.

 A military uniform; a dividing symbol of connection, a displaced outer shell. Vs Humanity, the nude body, a way to combat estrangement.
The uniform reflects as a symbol of macho-culture, power, respect, privilege and prestige; deconstructed, or stripped down it may become more fragile, more vulnerable, humane, even tormented.
Scraping back these layers of a symbol of privilege, we can identify easier with the emotional human being.
The uniforms used in these series are from different time periods and locations (Civil War, WWI, WWII, Vietnam, Gulf War…) to translate a bigger historic scene without idolizing one specific incident nor ideology. 

 All soldiers are the same, serving their country, protecting its values. Depicting them more vulnerable is something that could connect all of them, no matter what time period, race, place nor belief. By depicting these soldiers like they were martyrs or saints in a classical painting like the Ghent altar piece, the scenes of Caravaggio, El Greco, the Final judgement, I have tried to zoom in on this displacement and vulnerability while creating a mystic scene.

Yves De Brabander, Antwerp 2021

> back to
pt I : Original photoseries (2011/2020)
pt I.b : Battle flags (2011/2012)
pt II : Laser on plywood (2020/2021)

To summum a hero in martyrdom, devoted to a cause believed to be admirable. The hero’s death is commemorated, becoming a martyr, inspiring others to pursue the same cause; giving their life out of passion for truth, becoming themselves divine. <-> Martyr complex, the wilful suffering in the name of love or duty, a form of masochism; pain and suffering seeking self-discipline, abstinence and self-punishment to reach illumination, mysticism.