Jean-Claude Van Damme talks art, Hong Kong filmmakers and ‘good friend’ Vladimir Putin

If he had to pick one word, Jean-Claude Van Damme says he would describe his oil paintings as “simple”. The star of Bloodsport (1988) had swaggered into his art exhibition 40 minutes late, clad in full black, including the sunglasses he wore indoors. At 65 years old, the “Muscles from Brussels” still has a similar physique to the one at the height of his martial arts acting fame, though his hair is sparser and his gait less brazen. A long-time admirer of Sylvester Stallone, the Belgian-born...

By Charmaine Yu