The city of Antwerp proudly introduces Blinds, the first public space artwork by renowned artist and former fashion designer Martin Margiela. Commissioned for the newly refurbished Schuttershofstraat, a bustling shopping street in the heart of the city, the installation captures the intersection of privacy and public life through Margiela’s surrealist lens.
ART
The context of Blinds is rooted in the contrasts of Schuttershofstraat’s lively retail environment—where shop windows, street activity, and the desire to see and be seen shape the urban experience. Margiela’s monumental sculpture embraces the street’s dynamic energy while embodying an object of stillness and contemplation.
The artwork reimagines the familiar slat curtain, often associated with privacy, now installed boldly in a public setting. Yet what lies behind it remains unknown. As passersby attempt to “peek” behind the sculpture by walking around it, they find themselves back where they started. The static slats remain suspended in place, silently observing the city’s constant motion. Inspired by Belgian surrealism, Margiela draws from the ethos of René Magritte, who famously remarked, “Everything we see hides another, we always desire to see what is hidden by what is visible.”
Blinds invites viewers to reflect on the tension between concealment and revelation. The sculpture captures a fleeting moment, leaving onlookers with the sense that something may happen, though it never does. It stands as a poetic commentary on anticipation, mystery, and urban life.
For Margiela, the cityscape has long been a wellspring of inspiration. Having led the avant-garde Maison Martin Margiela from 1988 to 2008, the artist’s practice frequently draws from the ordinary and transforms it into something surreal. In past visual works, Margiela reinterpreted everyday urban objects—such as a traffic cone draped in fur—to provoke curiosity and evoke new meanings. With Blinds, the gesture is reversed: a domestic object is recontextualized within a public space, offering a new lens through which to experience the familiar.
Blinds reflects Margiela’s enduring sensitivity to materials and impermanence. Crafted from stainless steel, the slats have been sanded to mimic the texture of textiles, blurring the line between industrial and domestic materials. Finally, the sculpture was plated with palladium, ensuring its presence within the city for years to come while inviting interaction from passersby. Margiela embraces the wear and traces of time, allowing them to become integral to the artwork’s narrative.
Blinds now joins the Antwerp Public Art Collection as a lasting contribution to the city’s vibrant cultural landscape. Curated by Samuel Saelemakers of the Middelheim Museum, the installation reflects Antwerp’s ongoing commitment to artistic innovation in public spaces.
As a nod to both the surreal and the urban, Margiela’s Blinds serves as a thought-provoking encounter with the unseen, an invitation to discover wonder within the everyday, and a celebration of the subtle dance between concealment and revelation.
