Biography
Over the years, the Belgian artist Filip Vervaet (Born in 1977 in Mechelen, Belgium) has developed a particularly idiosyncratic visual language. Using the most diverse materials – from traditional bronze and metal to special paints used for auto-tuning and color filters – he combines various elements into a special universe. Art historical references, links to existing or non-existing civilizations, and allusions to science fiction come together in sculptures that exist in the fringes of past and future, and explore the boundaries of the medium.
From the post-apocalyptic, threatening scenes of his earlier work, Vervaet is increasingly evolving towards the artificial representation of nature. Exotic leaves that have been cast in aluminum and assembled into a new species; rough, irregular rock formations; bas-reliefs of imaginative plants in which the traces of his modeling fingers are still visible, they are all examples of the way in which Vervaet bends nature to his will. In this way, he refers to the perfectibility of nature, a recurring theme in his work.
He also increasingly brings to the fore the process-based aspects of his work by making casts of molds and turning them into new sculptures. This approach is fully in line with his obsession with the medium of sculpture. If initially he seemed to adhere to an existing tradition, he now increasingly goes his own way.
With his work, Vervaet aims to uncover the black holes in our perception, provide a glimpse of another reality, the subconscious, the supernatural. To this end, he also often works with the inside of the sculpture, as a metaphor for the ‘subconscious’. The result is a psychedelic dream world that is as fascinating as it is elusive.
Text by Sam Steverlynck
After studying at Sint-Lukas and the HISK, Ghent, Filip Vervaet exhibited in Belgium and abroad. Solo exhibitions took place in Cultuurhuis De Warande, Turnhout, Antwerp, PLUS-ONE Gallery, Antwerp and Cinnnamon Gallery, Rotterdam. His work was also shown in duo/group exhibitions in Lokaal 01, Antwerp, 38CC, Delft, Damian and the Love Guru, Brussels, Lustwarande, Tilburg, Van Buuren Museum, Brussels, among others. He is represented by PLUS-ONE Gallery, Antwerp and Cinnnamon Gallery, Rotterdam. His latest show Cascade in Vlaams Cultuurhuis De Brakke Grond in Amsterdam was awarded four stars in NRC. In 2022 Vervaet’s work will be on display at Galerie Ron Mandos in an exhibition titled Inner Garden.
CV
Solo Exhibitions
- 2021 Cascade, de Brakke Grond, Amsterdam, NL
Arcade, in collaboration with Theo De Meyer and Manor Grunewald, Landegem, BE - 2020 Sedimental Journey, PLUS-ONE Gallery, Antwerp, BE
SB41 Franz Anaïs and Filip Vervaet, curated by Els Wuyts, Salon Blanc, Oostende, BE - 2019 ‘Up on the hill – Down by the river’, De Warande, Turnhout, BE
- 2017 Where do we come from? Where are we going?, Cinnnamon, Rotterdam, NL
- 2015 Horror Vacui, Filip Vervaet and Renato Nicolodi, 38CC, Delft, NL
- 2014 Hollow Earth Sculpture Show, Annie Gentils Gallery, Antwerp, BE
Ignorance is strength, A collaboration with Sharon Van Overmeiren, curated by Damien & The Love Guru, Hunting at Collecting, Brussels, BE - 2013 Golden Power, Centrum voor ruimtelijke kunst, Lokeren, BE
- 2010 Optical spectacular, ism cel Crabeels en Martijn Vogelaers, Lokaal 01, Antwerpen, BE
- 2009 Nature Fun Park, Kulak campus Kortrijk, BE
Viewpoint, AON Award for Visual Art 2008, HISK, Gent, BE - 2006 Black Forest, Annie Gentils Gallery, Antwerpen, BE
- 2004 Exterminator Show, Fst Forward Gallery, Antwerpen, BE
Group Exhibitions
- 2022 Altered States, PLUS-ONE Gallery, Antwerpen, BE
- 2021 ‘Lost In Translation’, PLUS-ONE Gallery, Antwerpen, BE
‘The Porous City’, Triennial Bruges, BE
‘Point of no Return, Hof Ter Bist, Ekeren, BE - 2020 The Unruly Apparatus, Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp, BE
Scripted Truths, The Agprognostic Temple, Brussels, BE
Chasing Flowers, Warp, SInt-Niklaas, BE
L’Heure Bleue, PLUS-ONE Gallery; Antwerpen, BE
‘Achter de Wand’, Blikfabriek, Hoboken, BE
‘Medicine Breath’, Cinnnamon Gallery Rotterdam, NL
- 2019 Off Balance, PLUS-ONE Gallery, BE
On my way, Plus One Gallery, Antwerpen, BE
Delirious, Lustwarande, park de Oude Warande, Tilburg NL
Art Brussels, ‘Monumental sculptures’, with Cinnnamon Gallery, BE - 2018 Art Autun#2018 “CE QUI PESE ET CE QUI NOURRIT” (R.M.RILKE), Autun, FR
PRESENT | Van Buuren Museum, Brussels, BE
Cinnnamon @ Antwerp Art Weekend Invited by Boarding Galleries, Antwerp, BE
All places are temporary palaces, PENTHOUSE ART RESIDENCY, Brussels, BE
Het gouden paviljoen, Warande, Tunrhout, BE
Void, Grauzone festival Den Haag, NL
Art Rotterdam, Filip Vervaet and Theis Wendt, Cinnnamon Gallery, Rotterdam, NL
20 jaar NICC, A4 works, NICC, Antwerpen, BE
Collaborations, 10 Years Base-Alpha Gallery, Base-Alpha Gallery, Antwerpen, BE
Listening to the form, Panthera.Today, Brussels, BE - 2017 Celibataire Divas, Refugehuis Hasselt, BE
Bastion 10 Kunstenproject, Menen, BE - 2016 Paradise Lost, Base-Alpha Gallery, Antwerpen, BE
“Ten Dans”, curator Lieven Segers, CC Maasmechelen, BE - 2015 “Aandacht Aandacht”, Warande, Turnhout, BE
A Belgian Politician, Marion De Cannière Art Space, Antwerp, BE
Art Rotterdam, galerie Annie Gentils, Rotterdam, NL - 2014 Paradise Lost, curated by Damien & The Love Guru, Brussels, BE
“Cuesta”, Tielt, BE - 2013 Missing Link, Flip Art pace, Eindhoven, NL
- 2012 Salvo, galerie Annie Gentils, Antwerpen, BE
- 2010 Sunlight, Veurne, BE
BAT, Beeldenroute Antitankkanaal, BE - 2009 “Ik zie, Ik zie”, Warande, Turnhout, BE
Art Brussels, galerie Annie Gentils, Brussel, BE
Art in the City, Brussel, BE
Eden, galerie van Der Mieden, Antwerpen, BE
Cruel Intentions, Kortrijk, BE
The Last Session, De Brakke Grond Amesterdam NL - 2008 The Hands of art, S.M.A.K., Gent, BE
Arco, galerie Annie Gentils, Madrid, ES
Over the Hedge, Verbeke Foundation, kemzeke, BE
Antwerp Sculpture Show, Antwerpen, BE - 2007 Het gebouw, STUK, Leuven, BE
Art Cologne, galerie Annie Gentils, Keulen, DE
Full House, CC Belgica, Dendermonde, BE
Open Studios, Hisk, Ghent, BE
Art Forum, galerie Annie Gentils, Berlijn, DE
Over the Hedge, TAFA Gallery, Tianjin, CN
Just a four-letter show, Museum Dhondt-Daens, BE - 2006 Open Studios, Higher Institute for Fine Arts, Antwerpen, BE
Connexions, Martha Museum, Herford, DE
No name lotsa name Show, Factor 44, Antwerpen, BE - 2005 Fiesta, galerie Annie Gentils, Antwerpen, BE
Antwerpen te gast in Rotterdam, Mirta Demare Ruimte voor Actuele Kunst, Rotterdam, NL - 2003 Hotel Ideal, Berchem, BE
Sugar & Spice (Part 2), Galerie Annie Gentils, Antwerpen, BE
Quarantaine, in collaboration with Dennis Tyfus, Van Nelle, Ontwerpfabriek, Rotterdam, NL
For your eyes only, Feel Estate Festival, Gent, BE - 2002 Bordello II, Antwerpen, BE
‘O’, Dialogist-Kantor La Maison du Peuple , (No more patacycliste anymore), Brussel, BE
Meubilair Elitair, ism met Dennis Tyfus, Breda, NL - 2001 Printexbo, Bologna, IT
Project-îles, Brussel, BE
