Mademoiselle de la Faille

"I had so much admiration for the paintings that came before me that I did not see the point of adding anything." Jacqueline Mesmaeker, 2023.

Mademoiselle de la Faille is a photographic reproduction of a large tear in the wallpaper of Jacqueline Mesmaeker's living room. It was made by her landlord, who wanted to check for damp in the wall. The artist saw the tear as a little poem of everyday life and decided to leave it intact. As in Introductions roses (1996–2019), it's about the interstice: a crack or fissure, erotically charged.

Jacqueline Mesmaeker decided to make a full-size print of the tear for her retrospective exhibition Ah, quelle aventure! at Bozar. She moved this domestic detail to the exhibition space and named it Mademoiselle de la Faille. "Miss Fissure" might be someone to talk to and share your most intimate secrets with. But she is also a standalone work of art, showing the interaction between the artist's public work and the intimacy of her home.