Philippe Vandenberg

°1952, Ghent (BE) – 2009, Brussels (BE)

A significant figure in contemporary art in Belgium, Vandenberg rose to international prominence in the 1980s with works that combined personal narratives with literary, art historical, and philosophical references. Teeming with images, symbols, and words that touch upon themes of war, religion, sexuality, and death, his oeuvre includes a staggering range of motifs and techniques; it is filled with haunting narratives, lively abstractions, and cryptic fragments of language.

Central to the continual experimentation and stylistic shifts that characterize Vandenberg’s diverse body of work is his self-described ‘kamikaze’ attitude: a firm belief in destruction as the prerequisite for creation.

(courtesy of Hauser & Wirth)

Philippe Vandenberg – No title, ca, 2009

Philippe Vandenberg – No title, ca. 2005-2008

Philippe Vandenberg – Composition, 1989

Philippe Vandenberg – No title, ca, 2004

Philippe Vandenberg – No title, 1987

Philippe Vandenberg – No title, ca, 2007

Philippe Vandenberg – No title (Les chapeaux de Dieu [God’s Hats]), 2008

Philippe Vandenberg showed his work internationally, with solo exhibitions in institutions such as M HKA, Antwerp; Hauser & Wirth, Zürich; MSK, Ghent; De Pont, Tilburg; MuZee, Oostende; La Maison Rouge, Paris; Drawing Room, London; Centre PasquArt, Biel; and Kunsthalle, Hamburg.

You can discover more of the work of Philippe Vandenberg on the website of the Philippe Vandenberg Foundation.