Newton's Sleep

Newton's Sleep, an exhibition at Huberty & Breyne in Brussels, features a dual presentation by Milan Jespers (BE) and Marcello Nitti (IT). The exhibition, running from November 6 to December 12, 2026, draws its title from a poem by William Blake. It uses the 1815 Tambora volcanic eruption, which caused major climate shifts and led to the "Year Without Summer," as a starting point to explore the transition from a magical world to the industrial and scientific era. The artists question a contemporary "sleep of reason" where mathematical measurement of reality is perceived to have superseded imagination and emotion.

The show centers on Milan Jespers' monumental installation "Tambora," a life-size replica of a funerary monument adorned with 200 portraits of key 19th-century figures associated with the world's disenchantment. Marcello Nitti mirrors this form at a reduced scale, enveloping it in a painted landscape where nature reclaims dominance. Surrounding these pieces, a constant pictorial dialogue unfolds through paintings, drawings, and watercolors by both artists. Clouds emerge as a key motif, symbolizing the delicate threshold between rigorous scientific observation and romantic transcendence, offering a critique of technological hyperactivity and imaginative paralysis.