Nel Aerts (1987, Antwerp) focuses on an intermedial versus (semi-)iconic approach to materials and media, observing how the position of the artist is coloured by the world. Combining tragedy, poetry, fiction, humour and art historical references, her drawings, paintings as out-of-control woodcuts, performative videos and sculptural installations question the relationship between different media, art and the world.

Humour, loneliness, sadness, taboo, escapism, the (boat) trip, the journey, optimism, and the mask/masquerade recur regularly in her paintings, collages, textile works, sculptures, and actions. At the same time, her practice and work also testify to a stubborn belief in the creative, material, and moving power of contemporary art.

Text: Sofie Van Loo