Rinus Van de Velde (1983, Leuven; lives and works in Antwerp) has achieved important milestones in the development of his work in recent years.
While he was mainly known for his monumental charcoal drawings at the beginning of his career, today he stands out as a complete artist, who juggles with different media: drawing, sculptures, installations and cinema.
Van de Velde’s work plays on the tension between reality and fiction to create a complex universe where documentation and fiction, reproduction and reconstruction are inextricably linked. His works are characterized by a particularly complex stratification, obtained, among other things, through the combination of a careful composition and structure, countless references to the artistic world, a sharp irony, a visual intelligence, biographical elements and an overactive imagination. Van de Velde depicts an alternative world, where the myths of literature, art and cinema constantly permeate the reality of his personality and artistic practice, presenting a story that does not tell the truth, but a carefully arranged lie. In his drawings, which form the heart of his work, he creates a multiverse composed of several plots in which he distorts his real life into a fictional autobiography. He systematically mixes reality with his imagination, and gives himself the freedom to appropriate everything that enters his universe. With the alter egos he creates, he slips into the skin of different characters and explores worlds that do not belong to him (yet). All these universes have a common anchor: the artist himself. Through imitations, carefully crafted lies and appropriation mechanisms, he draws closer with each work to the hidden truth about his identity and art.
For Abby, Van de Velde was inspired by the cloister of Groeninghe Abbey and the museum’s collection. The Living being the museum’s first meeting space, Van de Velde wanted visitors to be able to get to know the collection in peace, which will include a new charcoal drawing by the artist. Like the sets of his films, that of this living room was developed and designed in every detail. Every chair, plant, table and sofa has been identically recreated in cardboard, wood and paint. All invite the visitor to take an active part in the world of Rinus Van de Velde.