On 24 October 2024, the City of Antwerp unveiled ‘Blinds‘, a sculpture by former fashion designer Martin Margiela. The new public artwork is located at Schuttershofstraat, a commercial street with expensive shops. The street is being redesigned at the moment. 

Born in 1957, Martin Margiela lives and works in Belgium and in France. He was asked to create an artwork for the renovated Schuttershofstraat, an important shopping street in the centre of Antwerp. The many shop windows, the strolling (seeing and being seen), shine and seduction, but also the metropolitan dynamics, roughness and unpredictability: all these elements form the context of ‘Blinds’, Margiela’s first monumental outdoor sculpture.

Stillness and dynamism

“An object that we associate with privacy – the slatted curtain behind which we hide, away from the gaze of others – is set up en plein public. What exactly is hidden from view here, however, remains a mystery. Margiela plays a game with the passer-by: they are free to imagine what is hidden”, the press release says.

“Anyone who tries to look ‘behind the curtain’ by walking around the sculpture will always end up back at square one. The silver-coloured slats remain motionless, while the hustle and bustle of the city rushes by. The artwork appears as a mirage, an eternal dream image, a nod to Belgian surrealism, which is a great source of inspiration for Margiela.” 

As René Magritte said: “Every thing we see hides another, we always long to see what is hidden by what is visible.”

‘Blinds’ captures the feeling that something is hidden but can be revealed at any moment. The artist reduces this moment to its essence, captures it in a form, and materialises this form as expressively and sustainably as possible. It feels as if something is about to happen, but the artwork is standing still.

Alderman for Small Businesses and Tourism Koen Kennis (N-VA): “As the largest shopping city in Flanders, Antwerp continually invests in its unique shopping experience. The transformation of the Schuttershofstraat is the perfect example of this: more greenery, more terraces and a car-free environment that enhances the luxury experience. Together with talents such as Martin Margiela, we bring extra allure to this iconic street. This is an investment in the future of Antwerp as the place to be for high-end shopping.”

The city as a place of wonder

The city and its public space have long been an important source of inspiration for Margiela, who headed the groundbreaking fashion house Maison Martin Margiela from 1988 to 2008. 

In earlier visual work, the artist borrowed seemingly banal objects from the urban environment, transforming them in a surreal way, such as a traffic cone covered in fur. With ‘Blinds’, Margiela is now making the opposite move: he introduces a vertical blind – an everyday domestic object – into the public space. What remains, however, is the sense of wonder and amazement.

‘Blinds’ shares with Margiela’s earlier work, as a fashion designer and as a visual artist, a great sensitivity to materials and processes of transience. Traces of time or of touch are not hidden or undone, but are part of the core of the chosen execution. ‘Blinds’ is made of stainless steel, an industrial material, but was sanded to imitate the texture of textiles, and then covered with palladium.

In collaboration with Kunst in de Stad

Margiela’s artwork merges with the complete redevelopment of Schuttershofstraat. The new design of the street visualizes the identity of the traders. 

Now the unique character of the street is also highlighted by the artwork ‘Blinds’ by Martin Margiela. The artwork was commissioned by the city of Antwerp under the supervision of Kunst in de Stad (Art in the City), Middelheim Museum. ‘Blinds’ will become part of the Kunst in de Stad collection, the urban collection of artworks in the public space of Antwerp.

Alderman for Culture Nabilla Ait Daoud (N-VA): “Blinds plays with our desire to see what is hidden. As the city has evolved over the centuries, it hides layers of history, just as this slatted curtain reflects and distorts the gaze of the passer-by. Artist Martin Margiela brings a familiar object into the public space here, and challenges us to look at the ordinary anew. Because that is precisely the power of art!”

‘Blinds’

• Design: Martin Margiela.
• Client: City of Antwerp.
• ​Curator: Samuel Saelemakers, Art in the City – Middelheim Museum ​
• ​Production: Art Casting, Oudenaarde (Audenarde).

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