ANTWERP.- Tim Van Laere Gallery presents its ninth solo exhibition of renowned Belgian artist Rinus Van de Velde. In this exhibition, Van de Velde presents a new series of oil pastel drawings, a large-scale self-portrait in charcoal and a new series of sculptures. In addition he reveals elements from his upcoming fourth film, which is currently in production, by presenting a large-scale installation and he introduces a new medium to his oeuvre by presenting his first monumental aluminum sculpture in the outdoor patio.

Nobel laureate Albert Camus claimed that “fiction is the lie by which we tell the truth.” A paradoxical statement that also encapsulates the essence of Rinus Van de Velde's artistic practice. Since the beginning of his artistic career, Van de Velde has explored the relationship between fiction and reality, not as opposites but as compatible elements: reality shapes fiction and fiction reveals the hidden layers of our reality. Fiction allows us to explore complex situations and relationships without the limitations of reality and can help us understand deeper truths about the human condition, our emotions, and the world. To explore this, Van de Velde has immersed himself in daydreaming and created a universe where the possibilities for his “being” are unlimited. He can assume any role, whether close to his real identity like an artist, or quite opposite like an adventure traveler. All these characters and storylines form his fictional autobiography, where even the greatest lies contain truths.

Questioning defined boundaries and exploring the relationship between opposites not only manifests itself in the narratives of his works, it is also visible in his working process and use of the various media within his practice. For Van de Velde, the various media - drawing, photography, sculpture, installation, film - are not separate forms, but links in a broader visual dramaturgy. The drawing can function as script, the installation as stage, the photograph as evidence, the film as fiction. What begins as a “preliminary study” can end up as an autonomous work, and vice versa. By constantly stepping up that game, Van de Velde breaks with the idea of a linear creative process. Instead, he proposes a cyclical and multidisciplinary model in which everything is preparation and end point at the same time. This method not only undermines the traditional status hierarchy between the different art forms, but also works unsettling to the viewer. What is real? What is staged? What is process, and what is result? In this ambiguous space, Van de Velde liberates the artwork from its fixed form. The boundary between creating and playing, between documenting and representing, becomes a gray zone full of tensions and possibilities. This process has been part of his practice for years and started by building monumental decors in cardboard, which first functioned as backgrounds for his drawings, which evolved to presenting them as autonomous sculptures and ultimately shaped his cinematographic world. Currently, there is no longer a linear progression, in stead they became an indispensable part of his oeuvre regardless of their initial inception. For example, in this exhibition he presents the installation Prop, Submarine, a large scale sculpture of a submarine in cardboard manned by some marionettes made after the likeness of real-life characters, such as the artist himself and the artist Claude Monet. This installation has also been the set for several scenes of his upcoming third film, which is currently in production. He also ventured into a new phase of autonomizing his sculptural works by casting a monumental cardboard tree in aluminum, turning it into an outdoor sculpture, which he then painted to form a new bridge to reality.

There is also a noticeable evolution within his drawing practice. Alongside those that reproduce fragments of reality or appropriate existing artworks, a new type of drawing appears in this exhibition. These show a looser drawing style, with a clearly painterly approach. They reveal the introduction of a new process within Van de Velde’s practice, in which the painting serves as a study for the drawing. In this way, Van de Velde reveals himself as a master of orchestrating media, with drawing always remaining central—as the place where all these threads come together, not as the endpoint but as the center of a game that can never be fully fathomed.

Rinus Van de Velde (b. 1983) lives and works in Antwerp, Belgium. Solo exhibitions by the artist have taken place in international institutions including Art Sonje Center, Seoul (2024); Jeonnam Museum of Art, Gwangyang (2024); Space ISU, Seoul (2024); Museum Voorlinden, Wassenaar (2023); BOZAR, Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels (2022); Kunstmuseum Luzern, Luzern (2021); FRAC des Pays de la Loire, Nantes (2021); KWM artcentre, Beijing (2019); S.M.A.K., Ghent (2016).

Van de Velde's works are in the collections of A.Z. Artgestion Collection, Bilbao; Belfius Art Collection, Brussels; CAC, Malaga; Colección SOLO, Madrid; Erasmus University, Rotterdam; Ghisla Art Collection, Locarno; FRAC des Pays de la Loire, Nantes; Karel De Grote Hogeschool, Antwerp; Kunsthalle, São Paulo; Kunstmuseum Den Haag, The Hague; KPN Art Collection, Rotterdam; Kunstmuseum Luzern, Luzern; KWM artcenter, Beijing; M HKA, Antwerp; Museum Voorlinden, Wassenaar; S.M.A.K., Ghent and the City of Antwerp.