Adelheid De Witte 

BIO | selected works

Adelheid De Witte her works have become more and more abstract as representation turned out to be too restrictive for De Witte and so figuration disappeared into the background to finally dissolve into cloudy structures and vibrating line figures.

From her research into light and shadow effects as well as colour creation, abstract landscapes emerged in which occasionally elements appear that vaguely recall objects. She pushes the boundaries of the two-dimensional surface further and further away with her often larger-format canvases. The landscape fades out and eventually evaporates. It is up to the viewer to project a landscape in the clouds and the incidence of light.

Contrasting shapes and colours, the confrontation between old and new, West and East intrigue the artist. Sources of inspiration include antique art, pietas, wooden statues of saints condemned to abstraction by the hands of time, paintings from the Romantic period, objects from De Witte’s childhood, prints of Japanese woodcuts and Japanese pattern books. In these Japanese art forms it is mainly the use of two contrasting colours within one monochrome movement that fascinates and inspires the artist.

According to time-honoured tradition, De Witte works layer by layer, wet in wet. Dark layers are alternated with various transparent lighter layers. Line figures in different materials (wasco, pastel chalk, charcoal, ...), always in one movement, are applied in between and on top. Paint is rubbed or scratched away again. The result are slightly estranging works in magical-realistic colours, rather opaque, as if they were closed off by a 'dirty' layer of varnish, though clearing up here and there. De Witte’s more recent works are remarkably lighter in tonality. Bright colours frame abstract landscapes or flash by like fireworks. The works have something festive: calligraphic lines dance gracefully up and down in the air, like the rhythmic ribbon of a gymnast.

For her paintings the artist does not limit herself to classical canvases. Their shape is unusual: round, polygonal or that of a (round arched) window. In addition to canvas, she also brings materials such as wood, slate, old lace machines and drumheads into the studio. De Witte does not necessarily apply colour with a brush or not even with a binder mixed into paint for that matter. She also rubs pure pigment into canvas, puts it into tubes and lets colour light up in neon sculptures.

Adelheid De Witte’s way of working is characterised by an intuitive process, a quest in which the artist allows herself to be surprised by the rawness of her materials, the emptiness and an unpredictable jumble of movements. Something happens. Rather out of time, or somewhere in a twilight zone. De Witte’s work is crackling. She surprises with a stunning window on reality.

(Roxane Baeyens, 2020)

CV

Adelheid De Witte
Born in 1982
Lives and works in Gent, BE

Sselected exhibitions

2024
FLAGADA / solo exhibition / Ter Posterie / Roeselare (BE)
TO THE ROCK, TO THE BEAT / solo project exhibition / BARBÉ / Ghent (BE)
ANY WISHES? / solo exhibition / Cadogan Gallery / London (UK)
DE RAMPE / group exhibition / Kwaremont (BE)
WORKS ON PAPER / group exhibition / BARBÉ / Ghent (BE)
DINOSAURS & BUTTERFLIES / group exhibition / BARBÉ / Ghent (BE)
OOIDONK ART FESTIVAL / group exhibition / Kasteel van Ooidonk / Ooidonk (BE)
AESTHETIC ECHOES / group exhibition / Plus-One Gallery / Antwerp (BE)
BACK AND FORTH / group exhibition / Irene Laub Gallery / Brussels (BE)
SOFT GUIDANCE / group exhibition / Cadogan Gallery / London (BE)
<…> / group exhibition / BARBÉ / Ghent (BE)

2023
ANY WISHES? / solo exhibition / Cadogan Gallery / London (UK)
ART ANTWERP 2023 / group exhibition / BARBÉ / Antwerp (BE)
SUMMER SHOW / group booth / BARBÉ x Keteleer Gallery / Knokke (BE)
WORKS ON PAPER / group exhibition / BARBÉ / Ghent (BE)
MOON JUICE / group exhibition / Waldburger Wouters / Brussels (BE)
IN MEDIAS RES / group exhibition / BARBÉ / Ghent (BE)
VILLA LES ZÉPHYRS / group exhibition / Westende (BE)
EVERYBODY HAS A PLAN UNTIL THEY GET PUNCHED IN THE MOUTH / group exhibition / Barbé Urbain / Ghent (BE)

2022
ART ON PAPER / group exhibition / Vanderborght Building / Brussels (BE)
MAGELLAN / group exhibition / Barbé Urbain / Knokke (BE)
STEALING THUNDER / group exhibition / Barbé Urbain / Ghent (BE)
WORKS ON PAPER / group exhibition / Barbé Urbain / Ghent (BE)
HET OOR / group exhibition / Bruthaus / Waregem (BE)
ROOK / group exhibition / Nationaal Tabaksmuseum / Wervik (BE)

2021
CHIT, CHAT / solo exhibition / Art on Paper / Brussels (BE)
XL / group exhibition / Barbé Urbain / Ghent (BE)
BALLROOM PROJECT / group exhibition / Antwerp (BE)

2020
THERE ARE FIREWORKS AT 11PM / solo exhibition / Barbé Urbain / Ghent (BE)
TUSSENHUIDS / group exhibition / Helmond (NL)
STAYCATION / group exhibition / Ghent (BE)
L' HEURE BLEUE / group exhibition / Plus-One Gallery & Gallery Sofie Van de Velde / Antwerp (BE)
BALLROOM PROJECT / group exhibition / Antwerp (BE)
CAMPARI CREATES X COLLECTIBLE / group exhibition / Brussels (BE)
WORKS ON PAPER / group exhibition / Anouk Vilain / Diepenbeek (BE)
THE SYNDICATE OF BELGIAN PAINTERS / group exhibition / Borgloon (BE)

2019
RUST & RUHE / solo exhibition / No Pop No Up / Ghent (BE)
NORTHERN LIGHTS / solo exhibition / Kusseneers Gallery / Brussels (BE)
AT NIGHT YOU DANCE / group exhibition / Barbé Urbain / Ghent (BE)

2018
CHRISTIE'S CHARITY AUCTION / group exhibition / Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens / Deurle (BE)
BIENNIAL OF PAINTING / group exhibition / Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens / Deurle (BE)

2017
YOU CAN'T / group exhibition / Yellow / Varese (IT)
YUGEN#02 / group exhibition / Ghent (BE)
RE-ART2 / group exhibition / Zaventem (BE)
BAD/ARTURE / group exhibition / ICC / Ghent (BE)

2016
ESPACE #43 / solo exhibition / Galeries Rivoli / Brussels (BE)
SILENCES / solo exhibition / Secondroom, DOK / Ghent (BE)
EVER AFTER / solo exhibition / At One / Ghent (BE)
RADISSON ART AWARD / group exhibition / Brussels (BE)
POP-UP EXHIBITION / group exhibition / Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens / Deurle (BE)
ARTURE X ARCHITECTENWONING / group exhibition / Jef Wauters / Deurle (BE)
ARTURE X FILATUUR / group exhibition / Art Space / Knokke (BE)

2015
HOLIDAYS ON MARS ARE JUST DECADES AWAY / solo exhibition / Ghent (BE)
GUEST ROOMS / solo exhibition / Ghent (BE)
D.ART / group exhibition / Mechelen (BE)
PASS / group exhibition / Mullem-Huise-Wannegem-Lede (BE)

2014
ALPINE CLUB BOECHOUT / group exhibition / Mortsel (BE)