DMW is thrilled to present Bram De Jonghe's first solo show at the gallery, titled 'Après nous, les mouches'. The exhibition title refers to a Belgian idiom “après moi, les mouches”, translated literally as “after me, the flies”, a proposal to not care or worry about our future – the flies can deal with it.
Bram De Jonghe aims to confuse, to elicit questions. He works mainly as a sculptor, creating spatial interventions that probe the boundary between art and reality. At the crossroads where those meet, something absurd arises. Bram believes in man as a creator, solver, and finder, and he favours the visual residue of do-it-yourself spirituality, renouncing an elitist definition of art.
“Art does not serve. My work has a kind of absurdity with a function.” It plays a game with expectations. Bram’s work often has no rational basis, inviting viewers to engage with it on an emotional level, instead of starting from the rational frameworks modern man uses to put feelings into perspective.
Bram De Jonghe (b. 1985, Ostend, BE) lives and works in The Hague (NL). De Jonghe graduated with a Master’s in Sculpture in 2007 and a Master’s in Visual Design in 2009 at Sint-Lucas, Ghent. De Jonghe was winner of the Volkskrant Visual Arts Prize (2015). He won the public art commission Just a Few Seconds (2022) to create a site-specific installation for the building of the Haagse Hogeschool (NL). Recent exhibitions include: Art Antwerp, DMW Gallery, Antwerp (2023); Pot Luck, Ballroom Gallery, Brussels (2023); Long Story Short (solo), Dürst Britt & Mayhew, The Hague (2023); All’s Well That Ends Well, Ballroom Gallery, Brussels (2022); and The connection, cur. Robbin Heyker, Billytown, The Hague (2022). Work by De Jonghe is held in private and public collections, including the Fries Museum (NL) and the Ahold Collection. Bram De Jonghe is represented by DMW Gallery.