Museumplein 03
:
Carlotta Bailly-Borg
Leaning against the wind
March – Augustus 2025
Carlotta Bailly-Borg (°1984) is a French artist based in Brussels. Her unique visual language takes shape across different media, bringing together references from classical mythology, pop culture, sports iconography, and grotesque figures. Her works do not follow traditional narratives; instead layer meanings, they merge bodies and forms, sometimes in ways that are unsettling to look at. Bailly-Borg’s world offers an alternative, almost timeless space where both identity and the body are in constant flux.
The human-like figures in her work twist and stretch, caught in enigmatic interactions. Sometimes they seem to merge into one another or offer support, while in other works they create tension by attracting and repelling each other. Their elastic bodies recall premodern visual traditions, such as medieval manuscripts and ancient decorative art, but with a contemporary, experimental twist.
For Museumplein, Bailly-Borg presents a series of figures that resemble historical depictions of the wind, such as those found on medieval maps or ancient Greek images of Aeolus, the keeper of the winds. As often in her work, their bodies appear distorted, but here, they carry a clear erotic charge. Their limbs intertwine sensually, hands stroke, longing gazes meet, somewhere, someone sucks on a toe… The connection to Citadel Park as a cruising and meeting place for anonymous encounters is easy to make.
The color palette of the flags makes the figures seem to dissolve into the sky, their hidden interactions only visible to those who look closely—just like in the surrounding park, where encounters between strangers unfold almost invisibly. This queer reading of the work is reinforced by the title Leaning against the Wind, a quote from the final diary entry of British writer Virginia Woolf. Her feminist works and queer relationships continue to resonate deeply with contemporary audiences. Both Woolf and Bailly-Borg create alternative worlds where bodies and identities are not defined by convention, but by playfulness and transformation.
This series can be seen as a celebration of queerness and unconventionality, where bodies are not confined by fixed definitions but exist in a constant state of motion and metamorphosis. Like Woolf’s characters, who often break free from imposed identities, Bailly-Borg’s figures tell an alternative story—one where the strange, the hybrid, and the unconventional are not just accepted, but embraced and celebrated.
Museumplein is an open invitation for artists to create work that temporarily takes over Jan Hoetplein. This square connects several museums—S.M.A.K., MSK, and GUM—and is deeply rooted in Ghent’s history. On one side, it is framed by the Ghent Botanical Garden, while on the other, it is embraced by Citadel Park. Jan Hoetplein is a unique space full of possibilities.
With these presentations, we imagine what the future could bring and showcase a new series of public artworks. Every five months, Museumplein invites a different artist to create work for the five giant flags in the flower bed in front of S.M.A.K. Each piece engages with the square, the park, the city, and its residents, encouraging us to reflect on the role of art in public space—what it is, and what it could or should be.
All images courtesy of the artist
Installation photography: Joselito Verschaeve
Museumplein is a project by artlead and S.M.A.K, supported by the City of Ghent.
