A solo exhibition of recent paintings by Stefaan Vermuten
Under Observation is not a conceptual exhibition but a focused selection of recent work. This body of work is dominated by heads: not portraits of recognisable individuals, but figures that emerge in the act of painting itself. They have no names and no biographies, and they resist fixed interpretation. For this very reason, they demand attention and scrutiny.
These figures are far from idealised. Their melancholy and imperfection are not psychological constructions, but the direct result of the painterly process itself. Paint determines, guides and disrupts. Beauty gives way to presence.
The artist never begins from a preconceived image and avoids preparatory studies or photographic references. The work unfolds entirely in the moment, shaped by chance, risk and continuous transformation. Landscape and figure remain interchangeable; overpainting is essential. Meaning is not the point of departure, but a consequence. What remains is an image that asserts authority and confronts the viewer with unmistakable intensity.
Opening
Sunday 8 February 2026
2.00 – 6.00 pm
In the presence of the artist
Location
Doornstraat 6.0001
8500 Kortrijk
Opening hours
Friday – Saturday – Sunday
2.00 – 6.00 pm