MMXXV by Mickey Yang

Mickey Yang
‍MMXXV, 2025

The artwork MMXXV by Mickey Yang is a new neighbor and conversational partner to The Miraculous Draught of Fishes, a monumental painting by Peter Paul Rubens housed in the Church of Our Lady across the Dyle in Mechelen. Both artworks celebrated their restoration, arrival and inauguration on the same day. The title MMXXV refers not only to the Roman numerals for the year of its creation — 2025 — but also to the story behind its conception. In dialogue with the painted miracle of the fish catch, in which the fish multiply wondrously in the nets, Mickey Yang explores the contemporary breeding process of a specific fish species: the rainbow trout, and how its hormonal manipulation shapes food production. This accompanying text follows the waves of the undulating artwork, from source to mouth, as an evocation of the Dyle river, which flows alongside the church.

The hands in the installation echo the astonished gestures of the fishermen in The Miraculous Draught of Fishes, an altarpiece Rubens painted on commission from Mechelen’s powerful fishmongers’ guild for their chapel in the Church of Our Lady across the Dyle. It is one of the few works Rubens made on direct commission, just as Mickey Yang created her work specifically for this site. MMXXV was developed for the church’s right aisle, where two metal brackets and a wall painting of fish still mark the original placement of Rubens’ triptych. For Yang, the hands also represent human influence on inhuman food production, where efficiency and profit gain the upper hand over moral considerations, such as in the case of farmed rainbow trout.

In today’s aquaculture industry, the reproduction of rainbow trout is genetically and hormonally manipulated to maximise productivity. Female trout are preferred for their faster growth and calmer nature, which reduces stress in the tanks. To exploit this efficiency, genetically female trout are fed testosterone so that they develop physically male traits. These so-called ‘fake males’ retain their two X chromosomes (XX – ♀), instead of one X and one Y chromosome (XY - ♂), yet produce sperm that results only in female offspring. To ensure the rainbow trout focus solely on growth rather than reproduction, the fertilised eggs are also subjected to heat or pressure. As a result, the young female trout do not develop ovaries and are born as infertile triploid fish, allowing them to grow faster and be more manageable in hatcheries. This method raises important ethical and ecological questions about hormonal manipulation in food systems.

In the lightbox, the letters of the title alternately illuminate the year of creation and the biological markers of XX and XY chromosomes. The letters M, X, and V also stand for gender identification, with the X offering a gender-diverse response to the binary of male (M) and female (V). The name of the church refers to the feminine gender and to the miraculous birth of Jesus. ‘Our Lady’ is an honorary title for Mary, who, according to the story, gave birth as a virgin, just as the rainbow trout reproduces without male involvement. The colourful stained-glass windows by modernist Jan Lauwers cast a rainbow over the shimmering trout and rolling waves of this wondrous whirlpool, where questions of ecology, gender, reproduction, food, and liturgy confluence.

MMXXV is curated by Koi Persyn and developed in collaboration with Gijs Leijdekkers, K&S Decor, Helix and Kris Hubbaut.

Co-production by Kunsthal Mechelen and art organisation Jester.In collaboration with the church council of the Lieve-Vrouweparochie and the Stichting Vicariaat Vlaams-Brabant en Mechelen.
With the support of Tourism Flanders, Stedelijk Museum Hof van Busleyden, the Mondriaan Fund and Stroom Den Haag.
With thanks to Marc De Geyter, Guido Knops, Philippe Verbist, Kristof Volckaert, Tabitha von Krüger, Lianne Kamminga, Steven Op de Beeck, Yesim Bektas, Jessica Meuleman and Karel Op 't Eynde.

Images by Lavinia Wouters

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