BREAKING NEWS: Hans Op de Beeck brings colour back to his signature grey. Belgian artist and sculptor Hans Op de Beeck is bringing colour back into his work. Tentatively, little by little, delicate shades of pale blue, pink and lettuce green are appearing alongside the monochrome grey that has become his signature.
His much-talked-about and memorable exhibition Nocturnal Journey, the most visited exhibition at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp in 2025, made quite a splash. Now, just a short while later, the artist returns to the public with Vanishing Point at Almine Rech Brussels.
In classical perspective, a vanishing point is the point where the lines of a composition visually converge and disappear into the distance. In Op de Beeck’s work, the idea takes on a much broader meaning. The vanishing point becomes a metaphor for everything that is constantly slipping away from us: time, memory, presence and meaning.
In the half-light of Antwerp’s KMSKA, I failed to notice fifty shades of grey. The emphasis of that exhibition was on meditation, and meditation needs twilight. The natural light flooding into Almine Rech’s gallery makes it possible to distinguish ash grey, anthracite and chalk white. Almine Rech is an international contemporary art gallery founded by French gallerist Almine Rech in Paris in 1989. Its Brussels space has been open since 2007. Today, the gallery has spaces in Paris, Brussels, New York, Shanghai, London and Monaco. And Hans’s sculptures seem to have suddenly begun to glow with new colours.
A central theme in his art is the relationship between realism and fiction. His sculptures are executed with extraordinary precision and, at first glance, appear completely realistic. Yet subtle shifts and small peculiarities gradually remind us that we are looking at an artificially created world. This is where the theatrical quality comes in. His installations resemble stage sets, meticulously conceived, lit and composed. Every object seems to have its own role. Еvery space suggests an action taking place somewhere beyond our field of vision.
And now, with the addition of colour, Hans Op de Beeck wants to give us Hope!