In the exhibition How It Functions, Voebe de Gruyter looks back on her eventful history with the Belgian cultural practitioner Herman Labro. What began in 1996 with the exhibition Winterbeelden as a conventional collaboration between an artist and a curator gradually evolved – initially without De Gruyter’s knowledge – into a complex game of fiction and reality. Both unsettled and intrigued by Labro’s approach, De Gruyter chose to continue the game, this time on her own terms.
Through drawings, texts and installations, How It Functions offers a vivid reflection on identity, intrigue, and artistic agency. A cactus – missing since the end of Winterbeelden and rediscovered 24 years later – reappears as a witness to a remarkable dialogue.
Voebe de Gruyter (1960) exhibited in Germany, Belgium, Austria, England, United States. Her work was recently shown at Kunstmuseum Bochum, Germany (2022) and CEAC in Xiamen, China (2023).
She is currently participating in group exhibition ‘Underground – The Basement Show continued’ at Stokker Jaeger in Amsterdam and ‘Waiting words’ at Galerie Bloom, Düsseldorf. (Germany) with Kay Rosen and Elsa Werth. Her work is in the collection of Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and Kunstmuseum Bochum in Germany.