17 july 2025, Flor Linckens
THEN/NOW/NEXT: Galerie Caroline O’Breen celebrates 10 years
This summer, Galerie Caroline O’Breen marks its tenth anniversary with the exhibition 'THEN/NOW/NEXT'. The occasion offers a meaningful moment to reflect on how the gallery has evolved from a space with a clear focus on photography into a contemporary art gallery with an increasingly broad and experimental profile.
What began ten years ago as a fascination for photography in its widest sense has since grown into a programme that also embraces installation, sculpture, painting and drawing. Yet photography remains the foundation on which everything rests.
The 'then' in the title refers to the gallery’s roots: a fascination for photography as a medium that is constantly evolving, driven by innovation, new techniques and unexpected possibilities. The exhibition presents works by artists who have helped shape the gallery’s distinctive profile, including Tanja Engelberts, Lucas Leffler, Satijn Panyigay, Anastasia Samoylova, Anne Geene and misha de ridder. They embody a spirit of experimentation and renewal, where material, process and idea come together in surprising ways.
The 'now' shows how the programme has expanded over the years. The gallery has grown alongside the development of its artists, while deliberately making space for multidisciplinary practices. Artists such as Bart Lunenburg, Elisa Strinna, Manjot Kaur and Milah van Zuilen show how the gallery operates today, as a place for reflective, layered work that engages with social, philosophical and personal questions.
The 'next' points toward the future. With young voices like Anthony Ngoya, Jaya Pelupessy, Aaryan Sinha and Sander Coers, the gallery actively seeks new perspectives and experimental approaches that continue to stretch the boundaries of the medium, both conceptually and technically, helping to shape the gallery’s future.
As a result, 'Then/Now/Next' is a layered exhibition where material, technique and idea converge. Within this broader framework, photography continues to play an important role and serves as the point of departure in this exhibition. It weaves a narrative in which the tangible gains weight, technical choices become meaningful and ideas take shape. By interlacing different materials and media, the works engage not only with their own visual language but also with the complex subjects they address.
The exhibition invites viewers to slow down, offering a selection where philosophical, social, investigative and personal work meet. 'Then/Now/Next' is an invitation to look and to reflect, highlighting the importance of the ongoing dialogue between artist and gallery. With this anniversary exhibition, Galerie Caroline O’Breen celebrates not only its own history but, above all, the collaboration, trust and shared search for new forms of artistic expression.
The exhibition features work by Aaryan Sinha, Anastasia Samoylova, Anne Geene, Anthony Ngoya, Antoinette Nausikaä, Arjan de Nooy, Bart Lunenburg, Elisa Strinna, Jaya Pelupessy, Lucas Foglia, Lucas Leffler, Manjot Kaur, Maura Biava, Milah van Zuilen, Misha de Ridder, Mounir Raji, Ola Lanko, Sander Coers, Sarah Mei Herman, Satijn Panyigay, Tanja Engelberts and Witho Worms.
