Kasper Bosmans (1990) studied in Belgium at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp and the Higher Institute for Fine Arts in Ghent. The artist’s work has been exhibited at Gladstone Gallery in New York, S.M.A.K. in Ghent, and the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles.
Oral histories, folk art, and local crafts all have important parts to play in the work of Bosmans, who forges unexpected connections to expand interpretations of history. A critical interpretation of narrative imagery can generate insights into phenomena such as the bias inherent to the iconography and symbolism associated with particular stories—such as folktales that incorporate imagery that many may now consider xenophobic or misogynist. An example in Bosmans’ work is the story of Saint Wilgefortis, a woman whom God gives facial hair to deter her husband-to-be from an arranged marriage she has no wish to be part of. Her only wish is to avoid an unhappy marriage, but her father chooses to punish her by crucifixion, thereby uniting her for all eternity with God.