Isaac Cordal
In 2020, Ghent is paying tribute to Jan Van Eyck with the thematic year 'OMG! Van Eyck was here'.
For this reason, the City of Ghent has invited several international top artists to embellish the city centre with a work of art inspired by the Ghent Altarpiece.
For my work for the theme year ‘OMG! Van Eyck was here’ I was inspired by Adam and Eve in the Ghent Altarpiece. I was intrigued by the distance that separates them - both when the altarpiece is open and closed - a distance that is reflected in today’s society based on patriarchy in an unrecognizable paradise. I thought about what our life would be like if Lilith were our predecessor instead of Eve.
My idea was to represent Adam and Eve in relation to the passage of time, to see how they have aged, how sin has mutated (the apple turned into an iPhone), virtual reality as confirmation of that distancing ... abandoned to their destiny in the urban jungle.