One of the leading artists in Belgium, he creates across a wide range of mediums: large installations, sculptures, drawings and paintings, text writing, video, and photography. Central to his work is typically the human figure, situated within an imaginative environment, sometimes in a melancholic and tragic atmosphere. He crafts delicate and aesthetic figures, always painted in shades of matte gray, and their somber facial expressions appear frozen in time. His works prompt viewers to pause and contemplate questions about the meaning of life and the passage of time, evoking admiration for the meticulous precision and attention to the smallest details. He employs a variety of materials such as polyester, glass, wood, concrete, and steel.
The Cliff’ – Sculptural installation made of steel, concrete, wood, polyester, and foam, 2019. Photographs: Courtesy of Studio Hans Op de Beeck.”
In the large installation ‘The Cliff’ from 2019, the artist presents a pair of adolescents sitting on a large rock in a moment of quiet and solitude, gazing towards an unknown future. The work ‘Lisah,’ belonging to a new series from 2020, features the artist painting in watercolors a woman with a giant, flowing mane of hair, seated comfortably and looking directly into the eyes of the observer.
Hans Op de Beeck has exhibited in more than 390 shows worldwide, including at the MOMA in New York, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Kunsthalle Museum in Vienna, the MoCA Museum in Cleveland, and Art Basel in Miami.
In summary: an infinite range of shades of gray.
