Painter, performer, sculptor and sound artist, Emilio López-Menchero never ceases to dissect the codes of our society. From the microcosm to the macrocosm, he confronts every symbol in turn: contemporary art fairs, icons, monuments, anthems and borders. In the “Trying to be” series of photographs and video-performances initiated in 2003, he attempts to embody mythical figures, mainly artists (Honoré de Balzac, Frida Kahlo, André Cadéré…), but also Yasser Arafat or the terrorist Carlos. But when artist Laurent d’Ursel invites him to disguise himself as Marc Dutroux, he’s no longer just a controversial or ambiguous figure. He’s the personification of absolute evil, made internationally famous by a wave of media attention. In accepting this challenge, Emilio López-Menchero confronts us with our most intimate fears, those that question the limits of humanity. Faced with this false self-portrait, we lose all critical distance. The title of the 2009 exhibition already posed the question “Is all cruelty worth talking about? (Julie Hanique)