Works on Paper

Willem Boel | Kato Bouckaert | Stefaan De Croock | Thomas Decuypere | Oh De Laval | Charlie De Voet | Adelheid De Witte | Ellen Dhondt | Phebe Hermans | Victoria Iranzo | Gideon Kiefer | Jens Kothe | Flexboj & L.A. | Kris Martin | Ellen Meers | Joost Pauwaert | Jef Staut

23 MAY - 28 June 2026 | Baudelostraat 23, 9000 Gent

BARBÉ is pleased to present a group presentation Works on Paper with works by: Willem Boel | Kato Bouckaert | Stefaan De Croock | Thomas Decuypere | Oh De Laval | Charlie De Voet | Adelheid De Witte | Ellen Dhondt | Phebe Hermans | Victoria Iranzo | Gideon Kiefer | Jens Kothe | Flexboj & L.A. | Kris Martin | Ellen Meers | Joost Pauwaert | Jef Staut at our space at Baudelostraat 23, 9000 Gent from 23 May until 28 June 2026.

Discover more about the participating artistS:

Willem Boel (b. 1983, Sint-Niklaas, BE) lives and works in Ghent. Boel bases his practice on the use of industrial structures and objects, stripped of their original function and reconstructed with artistic intent and a rigorous sense of composition. The historical and conceptual weight of these elements, serving as both support and artwork, along with the frequent buildup of paint, creates a density of information and materiality that contrasts in balance with the empty spaces and visual lightness of his pieces. These elements raise questions around disciplinary boundaries and traditional formats. The importance of process as a key component of his work lends significant value to time and duration.

Willem Boel works mainly in series, with notable bodies of work including Le chef d’oeuvre inconnu, De Nieuwe Molens, Pare Feu and Sancho Don’t Care. In 2015, he was awarded the prestigious Grand Prize at the Salon de Montrouge.

Boel had his first solo exhibition, Soon You'll Be Eaten, at BARBÉ in 2023 and in 2025 the gallery showed his monumental sculpture Sancho Don't Care #05 at the Brussels Expo site during Art Brussels. He has exhibited at institutions such as Palais de Tokyo, Paris; Museum M in Leuven, Belgium; and Loods 12 in Wetteren, Belgium. His monumental installation Sancho Don’t Care #05 - an 11-meter-high sculpture is currently touring across Europe, having been shown in Latvia, Denmark, France, and Belgium. In 2021, Boel participated in the Bruges Triennial (Belgium); Artissima (Turin, Italy); Art Rotterdam (Netherlands); Art Brussels (Belgium) and Kunstverein, Peschkenhaus Moers (Germany). His work is collected by the National Bank of Belgium and Museum M (Leuven, Belgium). In September 2025 he had a solo exhibition Memo at Hilario Galguera Gallery in Mexico City (MX). In 2026 he will install a permanent work in public space, commissioned by the Community of Brussels (BE) and will participate in the Triennial of the 3HKP Sculpture Park as part of the Krohne Art Kollektion in Landkreis Vulkaneifel, Rheinland-Pfalz, (Germany).

Kato Bouckaert (b. 1999, BE) lives and works in Brussels. She combines seemingly unrelated images and fragments of text to create works that open up new and often ironic narratives. Inspired by meme culture, comic aesthetics, and the visual language of the male gaze, her series Girls Be Like playfully questions stereotypical representations of women. The three presented works are part of her ongoing series Girls Be Like, in which she explores the image of the exaggerated “comic girl” and contrasts it with the complexity and humanity of real women. In Wait, What Cash Flow, Bouckaert ironically combines the language of finance culture with the presence of a seductive female figure, subtly confronting persistent gender stereotypes. Across the series, humorous and more serious phrases collide with provocative imagery, creating works that are playful, uncomfortable, self-aware, and deeply contemporary.

Stefaan De Croock (b. 1982, Eeklo, BE) lives and works in Bruges. De Croock is a Belgian contemporary artist whose work explores time and the traces life leaves behind. After graduating from Sint-Lucas in Ghent, he became a full-time artist in 2011 and has since exhibited internationally, from Miami and Mexico City to Stockholm and Bangkok. Working with reclaimed wood, marble, steel, and ceramics, De Croock transforms materials marked by age and history into poetic portraits and landscapes that reflect the human experience. The scars, textures, and patinas within the materials become metaphors for memory, emotion, and the passing of time.

Although Stefaan De Croock’s (b. 1982) practice evolved into large sculptural and material-based works, it all originally started with simple line drawings on paper. For this exhibition, De Croock returns to pen and paper, reconnecting with the intuitive and spontaneous beginnings from which his entire artistic language first emerged.

Stefaan De Croock’s presented solo exhibitions at a.o.; Groeningemuseum, Brugge (BE), Nosbaum Reding, Luxemburg (LU), Brussels (BE), Diskus, Aalst (BE), Transfo, Zwevegem (BE), JLS Gallery, Mexico City (MX), and numerous group exhibitions at venues including BRAFA with Nosbaum Reding, Brussels (BE), Kunstbiënnale Prinsenhof, Ghent (BE), Kunstenfestival Watou (BE), Duke Contemporary, Bangkok (TH), PAK, Gistel (BE), Bozar, Brussels (BE), Art Miami, Florida, (USA), Galleri Christoffer Egelund, Copenhagen (DK), Thinkspace, Borås,(SE) Galerie C.O.A., Montreal(CA), Huis Van Wassenhove by Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Deurle (BE).

Thomas Decuypere (b. 2000, BE) lives and works in Kortrijk. Decuypere draws from his combined passion for mythology and gaming, seamlessly merging the two worlds with himself as the protagonist. At the controls, he creates his own universe, akin to a god pressing the buttons with a clear dose of self-mockery.

In 2024, he obtained his MFA in Painting from LUCA School of Arts. Since his representation by BARBÉ he has participated in several gallery exhibitions and art fairs (Art Rotterdam, NL, Art Antwerp, BE) with the gallery. He also exhibited at numerous other venues, including the Roger Raveel Museum, WARP, Broeihaard, De Gaverprijs, University of England Graduates (UK), 30 Under 30 at Kunstenhuis Harelbeke, History of the Future in Damme, and Diskus in Aalst. In 2024, he had his first solo gallery show at BARBÉ, titled Can’t Stop the Gods from Engineering, followed by his participation in the 2024 Biennale of Painting at the Museum van Deinze en de Leiestreek (BE).

Polish-Thai artist Oh de Laval’s (b. 1990, Warsaw, PL) work 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 Lava learned a degree in sociology from the University of Warsaw in 2016 before moving to London to pursue painting. Recent exhibitions include; Dreaming of Colour, Opera Gallery, London, UK,  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).

Charlie De Voet (b. 1977, BE) lives and works in Ronse. His painting practice is primarily an investigation into space and materiality, both within and beyond the boundaries of painting. Central to his work is the behavior of oil paint under extreme layering, and how this contributes to optical depth, color, and texture. At the same time, he explores the limits of the medium by using paint as an autonomous, sculptural and skin-like material. By detaching the painting from its traditional support, he creates objects that not only present an image but also occupy space. His work balances surface and volume, illusion and physical presence. For De Voet, painting becomes not merely a window looking out onto the world, but a tangible, spatial experience in which tradition and experimentation can merge into a single gesture.

Recently, ‘LET SEEK HIDE & PAINT’ opened as his second solo exhibition with BARBÉ. The gallery has presented his works in numerous exhibitions both in and outside the gallery. He has also participated in exhibitions at venues including Spazio Display (Parma, IT), Art Rotterdam (NL), CAN Art Ibiza (ES), Ballroom Project (Antwerp, BE), Plus-One Projects (Antwerp, BE), Hilvaria Studios Foundation (NL), Dewael Gallery (Antwerp, BE), the MERode Collection (Ronse, BE), Fred&Ferry (Antwerp, BE) Badaff, (Ghent, BE) and Zebrastraat (Ghent, BE), among others. In 2025 he participated in the inaugural exhibition of the ABBY Museum in Kortrijk (BE). In 2026 he had his 2nd solo exhibition 'LET SEEK HIDE & PAINT' with BARBÉ.

Adelheid De Witte (b. 1982, Roeselare, BE) lives and works in Ghent. She is known for her abstractions of overwhelming sceneries, which are brought into balance by playful, sometimes mysterious and surprising elements that are incorporated into the work in a variety of ways. Time and again, the Belgian artist succeeds in reshuffling the core elements that define her practice, maintaining the tension between gravity and playfulness while achieving a wide range of variations in their execution. Starting from her paintings, Adelheid De Witte further extends this visual language across different media, ranging from works on paper to installations. These works invariably evoke a sense of nostalgia, memories, and her childhood. In this process, she actively seeks out materials, colours, and physical supports; such as accounting papers from her grandparents’ building materials business, a place that has inspired her from an early age.

Her work has been shown at Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens (Deurle, BE) as part of the Biennial of Painting; Plus One & Sofie Van de Velde (Antwerp, BE); Villa Les Zéphyrs (Westende, BE); Waldburger Wouters (Brussels, BE); Cadogan (London, UK); Irene Laub (Brussels, BE); and deboer gallery (Los Angeles, USA) and at NADA (New York, USA). In 2024, the city of Roeselare invited De Witte to present a retrospective exhibition at Ter Posterie, titled Flagada, curated by Louis-Philippe Van Eeckhoutte. On the occasion of this exhibition, a publication of the same title was released during the solo project exhibition Rock to the Beat in Ghent. In 2026 Adelheid De Witte's solo exhibition Coup de Soleil marked her second solo exhibition at BARBÉ. In 2026 Belfius Art Collection acquired ‘Open-Air’ (oil on linen, 140 x 160 cm) for their permanent collection on view in Brussels BE.

Ellen Dhondt (b. 2000, BE) lives and works in Ghent. In 2023, she obtained her Master’s degree in Fine Arts at KASK – School of Arts in Ghent. Through a spontaneous and seemingly innocent visual language, Dhondt creates a pictorial world that allows her to foreground the often trivialized experiences of women. Inspired by the cut-out paper dolls of the 1920s, she developed an alter ego: Ellie Dolly. This character appears in various situations and environments through which Dhondt explores complex female identity, universal themes, and taboos.

She has participated in several (group) exhibitions a;  BARBÉ (Ghent, 2025), Michèle Schoonjans Gallery (Brussels, 2025), Kunsthal Gent (Buy Local, 2025), Pizza Gallery (Antwerp, 2024), Maison des Arts (Brussels, 2024), Giftshop (Ghent, 2024), and Het Bos (Antwerp, 2023). She was awarded second prize at Art Contest 2024. In 2025, she completed the M-Residency at Cas-co, followed by a solo presentation from October 2025 until February 2026 at Museum M, Leuven, BE.

Phebe Hermans (b. 1995, Sint-Niklaas, BE) lives and works in Ghent. Her drawings create a quiet world in which small gestures and hidden emotions come to the surface. Corners, openings, and intimate spaces become places of curiosity, tension, and play. The works possess a playful quality, yet there is always an underlying sense of threat. This tension often manifests itself in the recurring need for escape routes and hiding places that accompany the actions unfolding within the image. Using pencil and brush, she searches for what lies beneath the surface of her own thoughts, revealing moments of solitude as well as secret joy. Working on simple A4 paper, she constructs a personal and intimate space in which she can explore, hide, and slowly allow things to emerge. 

After presenting her works at BARBÉ during the group exhibition 'Happy Happy Joy Joy' alongside Bjarne Melgaard, Flexboj & L.A., and Mike Kelley in November 2025, her participation in the Works on Paper exhibition marks her second presentation at BARBÉ.

Victoria Iranzo's (b. 1989, Cuenza, Spain) background involves an interweaving between 2 countries: Spain and Belgium. Her work investigates the metaphorical association of meanings, through the use of image and word, through the pictorial process as a formal language. Everything is part of a game of meanings, of intuitive relationships between images, interests and influences. Spaces like scenarios, where we interact. With ourselves, with our ideas and opinions, with those of others. Spaces of danger, spaces of comfort. 4-Dimensional Spaces. Space/society as a construct to be reconstructed, as a danger. Experience as a driving force. The individual/filter as a container, relative and influenceable. The process as time, as a scenario of evolution and adaptation, of learning and protection. The work as its own sediment.

In recent years she exhibited at at numerous venues such as BARBÉ, 2025, Ghent, BE; Rings A Bell, Ballon Rouge, 2024, Brussels, BE and Ladybug, Galería Isabel Hurley, 2023, Malaga, ES (solo). Iranzo graduated with an MA in painting from The Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Antwerp, BE and was awarded the XXXV BMW Painting Prize in 2020. She also held exhibitions at Reflexo Distante (Bolsa de Arte gallery, Porto Alegre) and O Ar entre as Coisas (A Sala gallery, Balls). In 2014 she received the Mario Antolín Scholarship for pictorial Research and Medal of Honor. She has exhibited in 2016 with the project “ToBe Project”, At the Gallery. Antwerpen, Belgium, In London in the project “SATURATION: New Spanish Painting”, Fitzrovia Gallery. London, United Kingdom. Among others, his work is found in Public collections such as the Juan Cose Castellno Comege Foundation, BMW Iberica Collection, New Castle Foundation and in private collections in London, Rome, Berlin, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Belgium and Spain.

Gideon Kiefer (b. 1970, Neerpelt, BE) works and lives in Sint-Martens-Latem. Kiefer delves into memories from his childhood and youth. He poses the question to what extent these recollections are truly representative of reality, while allowing the romanticization and imagination, so characteristic of such retrospection to unfold freely. In doing so, multiple readings of these memories emerge, as though they are being carefully unearthed from beneath the surface.

Over the past years, Gideon Kiefer has exhibited in numerous international solo and group shows in galleries, art fairs, and institutional venues. His work is part of institutional collections such as Museum Dr. Guislain (B), Bank Delen (B), the Metzler Collection (LU), the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (B), Museum Voorlinden (NL), and Collection Guerlain (FR). In 2025 he has been nominated for Le Prix de dessin de la Fondation d’Art Contemporain Daniel et Florence Guerlain 2025 followed by an acquisition given in loan to the collection Museum Centre Pompidou in Paris (FR). Recently the Flemish Community acquired one of his works for the contemporary art collection of the Flemish Community.

Jens Kothe (b. 1985, DE) lives and works in Bochum and Düsseldorf. He 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.

Flexboj & L.A. (b. 1995, BE) is an artist duo from Brussels. Their subjects are used as a way of self-justification are often found images from various sources, high culture and low culture, remixed and manipulated together with their own views and visual language. As an artist duo they work together but not in the literal sense, not in a direct collaboration on one canvas. Almost all work is made separately but with a likeminded approach. Being each other’s harshest critics, the works are always a collaborative effort in ideas.
Flexboj & L.A.graduated together with a mutual project in 2018 which led to heir first show in INBOX, MuHKA in 2019. In 2021 they had their first solo at the gallery ‘Alimentation Générale’ of which The Flemish government acquired two paintings in loan to the collection of MuHKA in Antwerp. They had a solo ‘Geel Mooi’ at CC Het Perron in Yper as laureates of the Louise Dehem prize for painting in 2023. In 2024 they had their 2nd solo 'Ashtrays, Pots & Macramé' at BARBÉ and participated at the group show 'Together: Collaborative Practices' at S.M.A.K. in Ghent, BE.

Kris Martin (b. 1972, BE) lives and works in Mullem. He is internationally recognized for a rigorous conceptual practice in which he addresses existential questions with subtlety and wit. Martin’s sculptures, drawings, photographs and installations reflect his ongoing preoccupation with matters of human existence and its contradictions. In his work Martin often makes use of the readymade; through subtle acts of displacement and with minimal intervention, he re-contextualizes familiar objects, infusing them with new meaning.

Kris Martin has been the subject of solo exhibitions at international museums including the Kunstmuseum Bonn, Germany; the Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau, Switzerland; Kestnergesellschaft Hanover, Germany; the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, Germany; the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria; the Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg, Germany; the Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco, California; the Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, Colorado; the Museum Dhondt-Daenens, Deurle, Belgium; and MoMA P.S.1, New York amongst others. His work has been featured in numerous group exhibitions including the Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen, Germany; the Louvre, Paris, France; the Tate Modern, London, United Kingdom; the Centre Pompidou, Paris France; the 4th Berlin Biennale, Berlin, Germany; The Warehouse, Dallas, Texas; the Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany; the Zabludowicz Collection, London, United Kingdom; the KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, Germany; and The Jewish Museum, New York. His work is included in prominent public and private collections such as the Burger Collection, Hong Kong; The David Roberts Art Foundation, London, United Kingdom; the Fürstenberg Zeitgenössisch, Donaueschingen, Germany; K21, Dusseldorf, Germany; the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Chicago, Illinois; the Olbricht Collection, Berlin, Germany; Sammlung Boros, Berlin and Sammlung Philara, Düsseldorf, Germany; the Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst (S.M.A.K.), Ghent, Belgium; the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota; The Warehouse, Dallas, Texas; and the Zabludowicz Collection, London, United Kingdom.

Ellen Meers (b. 1996, Bilzen, BE) lives and works in Brussels. Her work is defined by a distinctive visual language in which symbols, patterns, and memories intertwine. With a foundation in drawing, Meers has developed a practice that merges the intimate with the archetypal. She exchanges paper for ceramic tiles and reliefs, where her symbols take on a tangible, almost ritualistic form. Engraving, painting, glazing, scratching each gesture contributes to a process in which meaning is never fixed but remains in constant flux. Her visual vocabulary draws from personal anecdotes, childhood memories, and shared narratives, which in her work transform into pictograms imbued with an elusive, almost talismanic presence. The symbols seem to repeat and shift, like fragments of a forgotten script or a codex just out of reach. Tiles become compositions, isolated images form sentences, patterns evolve into rhythms. Like hieroglyphs bridging the gap between image and language, Meers’ works create a space where interpretation and intuition take precedence. The individual becomes collective, the personal universal. And yet, in deciphering them, the viewer is always gently led back to themselves.

Ellen Meers obtained her Master in Graphic Design in 2021 at KASK, Ghent, BE. In recent years she participated in many exhibitions at BARBÉ. ‘Works On Paper’ marks her 5th group presentation with the gallery. She also presented her work in numerous other gallery and institutional venues in Belgium such as: BEpart (Kortrijk), ‘The ABC of Subbacultcha’ at SMAK (Ghent), Kunstenhuis (Harelbeke), Frans Masereel Centre (Kasterlee), Ponti Gallery (Antwerp), Queens (Brussels), CAS, Zottegem, Studio Koen van den Broek (Antwerp), Plus-One Projects (Antwerp).

Joost Pauwaert’s (1985, Bretzenheim, DE) work explores the relationship between power, beauty, and poetry, often infused with a playful, childlike curiosity. He incorporates familiar and symbolic imagery that evokes both recognition and tension. Pauwaert is drawn to the aesthetic of the imposing and the monumental, which he balances with a sense of the caricatural and a symbolic wonder that softens its intensity and opens up imaginative possibilities.

Joost Pauwaert lives and works in Wilrijk, BE. In recent years, his work has been presented in numerous exhibitions, including solo and group shows at BARBÉ and other venues such as Ooidonk Art Festival, C-mine (Genk), Art Brussels (with Dauwens & Beernaert), Art Cologne (with Galerie Eric Mouchet, FR), Archipel at Deweer Gallery Estate (Otegem), Art Rotterdam (with BARBÉ), Ponti (Antwerp), Pizza Gallery (Antwerp), Gevaertsdreef (Oudenaarde), PASS Kunstroute (Lede), and Emergent (Veurne). Following his second solo exhibition, The End Is Near (2024), accompanied by the performance Apocalyptic Triumph Parade, one of the sculptures was acquired by the Museum of Deinze and the Leie Region. He also participated in the debut exhibition of ABBY Kortrijk, where he performed Apocalyptic Carousel in September 2025. In 2026, Pauwaert was invited by curator Simon Delobel for a solo exhibition, A Good Hammering, at KIOSK (Ghent, BE), presenting an immersive installation that reflects his evolving practice of recent years. In the summer of 2026, he will present a solo exhibition at Park Ter Beuken, invited by the city of Lokeren.

Jef Staut  (°1994, lives and works in Brussels) is a visual artist whose work revolves around repetition and intuitive variation. By drawing and redrawing motifs, he develops a deep familiarity with form, allowing new connections to emerge and evolve. His sketchbook plays a central role in this process, where traces of earlier drawings bleed through and organically shape new images. Influenced by the graphic simplicity of toys, Staut explores colour, form, and composition through painting. The result is a playful and layered practice, balancing spontaneity and iteration.

Jef Staut obtained his Master’s degree in Animation Film at KASK in Ghent in 2016. In 2023, he completed a duo residency together with Ellen Meers at the Frans Masereel Centrum in Kasterlee, Belgium. Works on Paper marks the second presentation of his work at BARBÉ. In the past years he had exhibitions in Belgium at Kabinet, Gent, Yugen, Gent, Studio Artoo, Antwerp, CC Zwanenberg, Heist-op-den-berg, and at Kunst In Huis in Antwerp and Brussels. In September 2026, he will present a solo exhibition at Soon Gallery, BE.

Exhibition: 23/05 - 28/06/2026
Baudelostraat 23, 9000 Gent

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