11 november 2024, Emily Van Driessen
Joost Pauwaert at Barbé Gallery: The Director of Impact
Joost Pauwaert (born 1985, Bretzenheim, Germany; based in Zwijnaarde, Belgium) has built his reputation on mesmerizing performances and kinetic installations, where he skillfully balances mechanical power and impact. His latest solo exhibition at Barbé Gallery in Ghent is no exception. With audacity and a touch of anarchy, Pauwaert orchestrates not just an exhibition but an entire universe, immersing the viewer in an experience like no other. Is it art? Is it spectacle? The answer: absolutely.
His installations and performances create an almost hypnotic tension, where each element - from sound to the energy of motion - adds to the intensity. At the heart of it all lies a childlike wonder that drives him to explore familiar imagery, often playing with stereotypes in a humorous, almost mischievous way.
Joost Pauwaert, The End Is Near, BARBÉ
An apocalyptic parade through Ghent
To open his exhibition, Pauwaert organized a procession through the heart of Ghent. As the crowd moved through the city center, they became part of what felt like an apocalyptic parade - or perhaps a royal celebration? A cake is on fire and smoke billowed up behind a seven-meter rocket, which afterwards effortlessly rolled right into the gallery. Every element of the parade was carefully planned and executed. “Everything’s on track,” Joost said with a grin as he continued along in the parade. “Now, what’s left is the piano.” A few minutes later, he let a piano, which he had previously hoisted up with brute force, fall precisely between parked cars. After the parade, each rolling piece from the procession was set up in the gallery itself, where viewers could admire every detail up close.
A few highlights
In this show, Pauwaert presents several new works that connect visually and performatively. For example, The Perfect Mushroom Cloud: Sound Boom Radius charts the sound radius of an explosion. According to Pauwaert’s calculations, the sound could be heard as far as Bruges from a small village near Damme, underscoring the sheer reach of his work.
In Search Of The Perfect Mushroom Cloud and Naval Mushroom Cloud at Dusk in a Small Flemish Village are part of the same series, where Pauwaert sets out to create the most perfect mushroom cloud over an enclosed lake in a small Flemish village.
Joost Pauwaert, Naval Mushroom Cloud at Dusk in a Small Flemish Village, 2024, BARBÉ
And then there’s Champagne, a piece that plays on the intense suspense of that lakeside performance. He draws us into the moments leading up to the explosion, capturing in his own handwritten words the countdown, the silence, and the impact. Spectators stand along the shore, while Joost himself is fully aware that, if anything were to go wrong, they’d have to pull his charred body from the lake. It’s that dangerous edge he walks on that gives his work its unique tension. And while some neighbors complained and the police showed up after the boom, the artist didn’t flinch. He enjoyed the moment with a glass of champagne, unfazed by the chaos he had set in motion.
Joost Pauwaert, Champagne, 2024, BARBÉ
With this second solo exhibition at Barbé Gallery, Joost Pauwaert confirms that he is not just an artist, but a director of impact. His work balances on the edge between controlled power and chaotic beauty.
A career of bold installations and performances
Joost Pauwaert has been building an impressive portfolio within the Belgian art scene for years. He works like an engineer and dreams like a visionary. His pieces require technical precision yet are infused with a surreal, almost theatrical vision.
Joost Pauwaert, Concerto for Two Cannons, a Saw, an Anvil..., 2021, BARBÉ
A few highlights of his career: in 2020, he installed the permanent piece Two Large Hammers at the Verbeke Foundation. In 2021, during his first solo exhibition at Barbé Gallery, he positioned two cannons facing each other and fired the cannonballs within the gallery space. It was meticulously calculated, yet still incredible that it succeeded: the cannonballs collided perfectly, merging in mid-air. He later repeated this daring experiment on a larger scale at the Verbeke Foundation in 2022. In 2023, Pertaining Probings & Observations, Artefacts & Actions, a retrospective that captures his artistic journey, was published.
