28 september 2026, Flor Linckens
Human Echo: people and their surroundings in the Nijmegen pop-up of Galerie Bart
Until 1 November, Galerie Bart is presenting the group exhibition ‘Human Echo’ in their pop-up space on the Honigterrein in Nijmegen, featuring work by Britte Koolen, Lawrence James Bailey and Toni van Tiel. The three artists work with a wide range of materials and techniques, but share an interest in the various ways in which people relate to their surroundings. They consider, for instance, the traces we leave behind, what it means to be human and the extent to which we are able to control the world around us.
That relationship takes on different forms throughout the exhibition. In Toni van Tiel’s drawings, tiny figures appear alongside unusual monuments, showing how we attempt to shape the spaces around us. Britte Koolen’s sculptures, by contrast, make you aware of the physical space you occupy and the ways in which you, as a viewer, relate to an object. Lawrence James Bailey, meanwhile, seems to challenge the very idea that there is a clear boundary between ourselves and our surroundings.
In her sculptural practice, Britte Koolen searches for slowness and balance as a counterweight to the endless stream of images, sounds and information we encounter every day. Koolen works slowly and precisely, exploring how much she can remove before a form loses its tension. The space around her work, to which both the sculpture and the viewer must relate, also plays a significant role in her practice. Koolen takes this into account from the very beginning of her process. She draws inspiration from architecture, geometric forms and everyday observations, which she reduces to clear shapes, repetitions and subtle shifts. Her work invites us to look just a little longer and pay attention to details that are easily overlooked.
Britte Koolen was born in the Netherlands in 1994 and studied at HKU University of the Arts Utrecht. Her work has been shown at Stedelijk Museum Breda, ARTZUID and De Balie as well as at This Art Fair, OBJECT and Miami Art Week. Her work has also appeared in Elle Decoration.
Lawrence James Bailey creates embroidered and appliquéd textile portraits in which the boundary between the human body and the natural world seems to gradually dissolve. His figures are often overgrown, damaged or partially absorbed into their surroundings. Here, the natural world is not simply a backdrop to human life, nor something separate from or subordinate to us, but something we are intrinsically part of. Bailey is more interested in disruption and vulnerability than in harmonious balance. The material itself also becomes part of this exploration: the British artist treats textile as a kind of second skin, piercing, abrading, bleaching and tearing it before repairing it again. As a result, the surface can visually evoke both scars and a protective layer.
Lawrence James Bailey was born in Stoke-on-Trent in 1976 and obtained his degree at the Hull School of Art. He subsequently completed a two-year residency at De Ateliers in Amsterdam, where he has lived and worked since 2001. His work is held in the collections of the Amsterdam Museum, Europol, Huize Frankendael and De Ateliers.
Toni van Tiel creates drawings of sculptures that do not exist, but that you can easily imagine in a square or park. His ideas often emerge from everyday observations, which he subsequently enlarges, distorts or combines in unexpected ways. Because he does not have to concern himself too much with whether such a construction could actually be built, there is plenty of room for humour and absurdity. At Galerie Bart’s pop-up, he is presenting the work “Kruimelvlaai Koelrek Abstractie” ("Crumble Pie Cooling Rack Abstraction") (2023). At the same time, Van Tiel encourages us to consider the sometimes strange objects with which we populate our public spaces and the ways in which we relate to them as human beings.
Toni van Tiel was born in the Netherlands in 1979 and studied at AKV St. Joost. The artist lives and works in Eindhoven and his work was previously shown at Art on Paper Brussels and Drawing Room Madrid.
