BARBÉ proudly presents the group exhibition ‘Oh Baby’.

Gathering nine artists from five countries, the exhibition traces the shifting forces of physical attraction, desire, and seduction. Each voice enters from a different angle, sometimes in harmony, sometimes in tension. Together, their works weave a field where intimacy and distance, play and provocation, mirror and oppose one another, sharpening the contours.  Their works confront and echo one another, amplifying their individual voices.

With works by:

Filip Anthonissen (BE) | Marco De Sanctis (IT) | Oh De Laval (PL/TH) | Ellen Dhondt (BE) | Jens Kothe (DE) | Kris Martin (BE) | Femmy Otten (NL) | Alice Vanderschoot (BE) | Liliane Vertessen (BE)

Opening Saturday 20th September 2025 - 15.00 - 19.00
On view until 26th October
Preview catalog available as from Thursday 18th September 2025

Penitentenstraat 29, 9000 Gent

Filip Anthonissen (b. 1991, BE) is a visual artist from Belgium, currently living in Brussels. His prefered techniques are 3D-animation and painting.
His work revolves around survival, around identity formed by relationships, ego and trauma. Inspired by religion, psychology and own experience. Filip graduated in Animationfilm at KASK in Ghent in 2017.

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Marco De Sanctis (b. 1983, IT): Marco De Sanctis  (°1983, Milan) lives and works in Brussels and Italy. Marco De Sanctis literally and figuratively introduces a temporal dynamic in his work. Temporal shifts, reinterpretations of and interventions on existing works challenge the legitimacy and art historical legacy of contemporary artistic practices. Marco De Sanctis works challenge the duality between the copy and the original, investigate the transmission (methods) of images and the position of a contemporary artist vis-à-vis this art historical heritage.

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Oh De Laval (b. 1990, PL/TH): The work of Polish-Thai artist Oh de Laval is concerned with human behaviour: the decisions we make and consequences of our actions. In this spirit, each of de Laval’s paintings acts as a window into our inner characters, pleasures and fantasies. Among Oh de Laval’s inspirations, the most significant are human desires, secrets and our wild nature. Many of her paintings are dominated by “Venetian pink” which became her signature colour. To de Laval, everyone's life is a mix of comedy and drama. With each artwork she challenges herself to express these ideas through painting, questioning the viewer to reflect on the purpose and seriousness of life. Oh de Laval (b.1990, Warsaw, PL) earned a degree in sociology from the University of Warsaw in 2016 before moving to London to pursue painting. Recent exhibitions include I miss when people had secrets, Galerie Marguo, Paris, FR (2025, solo); Take your pleasure seriously, Galerie Marguo, Paris, FR (2023, solo); Wild Things Happen in Stillness, Unit London, UK (2021, solo); Le jardin des délices, Galerie Claire Castaud, Paris, FR (2024, group); Technostalgia, Allouche Gallery, New York, NY (2024, group); I LICKED IT, IT’S MINE, Museum of Sex, New York, NY (2024, group); Hajimemashite, Bridge Mogura Gallery, Tokyo, JP (2023, group); Chronicles 7, Galerie Droste, Paris, FR (2022, group); Domesticity, Nassima Landau Art Foundation, Tel Aviv, IL (2022, group); My Secret Garden, Asia Art Center, Taipei, TW (2021, group); Xiao Foundation, Hong Kong, CN (2021, group); Ein Museum auf Probe, Villa Merkel, Esslingen, DE (2021, group); and Watchlist, Galerie Droste, Paris, FR and Unit London, UK (2020, group).
Oh de Laval collaborated with Kali Uchis on the art for her 2020 EP To Feel Alive. Her work is held in the collections of AMMA Foundation (Mexico City, MX); Dib Museum (Bangkok, TH); Rudin Dewoody Collection (Florida, US); Studio Berkhain Museum (Berlin, DE); Emergentes Art Collection (Lebanon); Xiao Foundation (Hong Kong); X Museum (Beijing); and the Asymmetry Foundation (London).

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Ellen Dhondt (b. 2000, BE): Her work is inspired by cut-out dolls from the 1920s. What fascinates her about these dolls is that the figure is placed in the middle and presented by objects or clothes that eventually form the complete image or portrayal of the doll. It is as if the doll figure is trapped in a context that defines her, with no possibility of escaping. She designed her own cut-out doll named Ellie Dolly, which resembles her and functions as her alter ego. By using Ellie Dolly, she can make her work deeply personal while addressing universal taboos. It also playfully comments on today’s obsession in popular psychology with the “inner child.” She finds it amusing to portray herself this way, to experiment with the idea of caricature. Her practice is about taking certain stereotypes and making them her own.

Through this approach, she seeks to question the concept of identity and how it is constructed. Who are we, and what are merely ideas imposed upon us?

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Jens Kothe (b. 1985, DE) lives and works in Bochum and Düsseldorf (DE). Jens Kothe presents tactile wall objects echoing the human body, the physical self. Take for instance the oval round cavities, like navels cut from the belly. As if they were enlarged body parts, Kothe’s objects are executed in muted, fleshy colours and shaped in slightly convex surfaces and soft curves begging to be touched. At the same time they often make you think of familiar elements of everyday life, such as benches. By making use of materials that evoke a certain intimacy, the artist welcomes the viewer into a private atmosphere. Although his works refer to the human body, it is never the human body as a whole. Instead it’s fragmented, degraded even, somehow trapped between its organic origins and the industrial world in which it is supposed to function, thus reflecting the struggle of man against the machine.

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Kris Martin (b. 1972, BE) lives and works in Mullem, Belgium. His artistic work is characterized by an investigation into existential questions. His reflections on being materialized in works convey intense experiences with the passage of time, with life and death, spirituality, and religion. His installations, sculptures, photographs, videos, and drawings combine conceptual elements with a sensuous quality. The artist frequently employs found objects that hold a particular fascination for him; to his mind, these objects trouvés are carriers of a number of different ideas as well as of their own history. Using minimal interventions and reduced means, Martin alters these objects, creating gaps that provide room for interpretation which the viewer can then fill with his or her own personal associations. Despite their melancholic and symbolic aspects, Kris Martin’s works never come across as pathos-ridden; instead, they touch the viewer with an existential urgency punctuated by mischievous humor. 

Previous solo shows have taken place at Kunsthalle Trier (2022); S.M.A.K., Ghent (2020, 2018); Kunstraum Innsbruck, Schloss Ambras, Innsbruck (2014); K21 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf (2013); Kunst-Station Sankt Peter, Cologne (2012); Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg (2012); K20 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Dusseldorf (2009); Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Bergamo (2008); MoMA PS1, Contemporary Art Center, New York (2007); Neuer Aachener Kunstverein, Aachen (2006). His works are part of renowned collections, such as the MCA Museum of Olbricht collection, Berlin; Sammlung Boros, Berlin; Contemporary Art, Chicago; K21, Dusseldorf; the Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst (S.M.A.K.), Ghent; and the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis.

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Femmy Otten (1981, NL)Lives and works in The Hague, the Netherlands. Femmy Otten studied at the HISK Higher Institute for Fine Art in Ghent and was a resident artist at the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten in Amsterdam and Atelier Holsboer, Cité Internationales des Arts in Paris. In 2013 Otten was awarded the de Volkskrant Beeldende Kunst Prijs. In 2014 she was one of three artists who were selected by the Dutch government to make an official portrait of King Willem-Alexander. Recently her work was on view in the following exhibitions: We Once Were One, stedelijk Museum Schiedam, ’Rainbow Woman’ , De Warande, ‘One way or another’, SMAK, Gent, ‘EURAZIE’ M HKA, ‘One tear at a time’, Fons Welters. ‘Wistful Eye’ Drents Museum. ’Minor Heroïsm’, Zilberman Gallery, group show during the 14th Istanbul Biennial. ‘. Een nieuwe koning, een nieuw portret’, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. ’De Volkskrant Beeldende Kunst Prijs’, Stedelijk Museum Schiedam. ‘Yellow Minutes’, P///akt, Amsterdam. ‘Royal Award for Modern Painting’, Royal Palace, Amsterdam. ’Hydrarchy: Power and Resistance at Sea’, Gasworks, London. Her work is represented in public and private collections, including the collections of SCHUNCK* Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, Museum Voorlinden, collection of the M HKA , Drents Museum and

the AkzoNobel Foundation.

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Alice Vanderschoot (b. 1989, BE) lives and works in Bruges. She graduated MFA Sculpture at KASK, Gent, BE. The title of Alice Vanderschoot debut solo exhibition ‘Le Palais Idéal’ is an ode to the now-historical monument in France that was single-handedly built by a postman in the 19th century. Vanderschoot reflects on the use and circulation of visual communication in current times. She questions the authenticity, meaning, and origin of everyday objects coming from her personal environment such as work gloves and pocket knives. Alice Vanderschoot researches lost visual languages and symbols, disappeared customs and rituals such as votives that play an important role in her oeuvre.

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Liliane Vertessen (b. 1952, BE) is one of the first Belgian artists to use her own body as an artistic medium. She stages tableaux vivants and organizes happenings for an audience of one. She performs herself in various settings, in different roles: dressing up in romantic garments, lingerie, tiger suits, or men’s costumes. These private happenings are documented in photographs. Afterwards, the analogue photographs are hand-coloured and assembled with objects (dresses, plush, fur, …) and neon. The self-portraits are often erotically charged and radiate a kitschy world of glitter and appearance. A mysterious duality runs through Vertessen’s oeuvre: the provocative role-play suggests boundless exhibitionism. Nothing could be further from the truth. Time and again she escapes into role-playing, hiding behind clichés of “The Woman”: the vamp, the playmate, the diva, the lady, the queen, the femme fatale, the prostitute, the innocent girl. Yet her true identity remains elusive.

Liliane Vertessen studied for three years at the Antwerp Academy of Fine Arts and then two years in Brussels as an assistant director. Some highlights of her career include her exhibition in 1983 at Museum D’Hondt-Dhaenens in Deurle, which travelled in 1986 to De Brakke Grond in Amsterdam; her double exhibition with Cindy Sherman at PCBK Hasselt (1987); Liliane Vertessen and Wim Delvoye at S.M.A.K. Ghent (1989); Gedachtengangen at Museum Fridericianum in Kassel (1989); her exhibition at NAK Aachen (1991); Word and Image at M HKA Antwerp (1992); Seven Crimes One Case at PMMK Ostend (1992); and David Bowie and Me at Studio Propaganda in Antwerp (1999). Her work is represented in major museum collections such as M HKA Antwerp and PMMK Ostend.

The artist has also been awarded several prizes of distinction. Her monumental stainless-steel sculpture Heaven and Earth, which has been integrated into the streetscape near Brussels North Station since 1997, is one such example. In 1996 she won the Culture Prize of the Flemish Community.

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