Spotlight on Uncommon Materials at our 2024 Brussels fair

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The Spotlight on Uncommon Materials section will bring together six galleries who will present works by over 25 artists: T&B Gallery, Gallery Ritter, A POSTERIORI, Chiefs & Spirits, Roof Art Gallery and Mookji Art Contemporary. These galleries will present works made out of denim, oil plastic, forgotten books, recycled plastic bottles, and an array of other unconventional materials.

Make sure to discover the unique practices of the artists that make up this section.

Books | Philippine Henry de Frahan | A Posteriori

Philippine is intrigued by giving a second life to books.

She sees the merging of physical literary works into a 3D installation or artwork as parallel to the process of authors taking influence from multiple sources to create a new, contemporary literary piece in its own right.

She uses the pages to create movement and energy, splaying them in mainly circular forms to create a swarming, mass-like finish.

For Philippine, giving forgotten books a new lease of life takes on the term ‘deliberate upcycling’, which is how she self-describes her unusual, innovative practice.

Oil plastic | Stefan Gross | Chiefs & Spirits

Stefan Gross apprenticed as a practitioner of stained-glass manufacture. During his apprenticeship he was surrounded by coloured glass and learned to think in colour. In 2006, he first developed a material of his own that he now predominantly uses in his work. ‘Oil plastic’ results from dyeing an industrial plastic with classic oil paints. Acting as both surface and paint, it enables Stefan Gross to extend the painted surface three-dimensionally. ‘Oil plastic’ is translucent and behaves, at a relatively low temperature, like glass. In his work, Stefan Gross depicts, in a colourful way, the fall of a society based on growth.

“The world is a serious place these days. This is a problem I address in my work.”

Stefan shows the beauty and potential of industrial production.

Stainless steel | Yong R. Kwong | T&B Gallery

Yong Rae Kwong’s work plays with duality, using the cold, hard medium of stainless steel to convey warmth.

Its modernity and urban feel appeals to Yong, who polishes the steel into a mirror-like surface ready for manipulation into individual components, which he views as pigments.

From his studio in South Korea, he joins thousands of these pigments together and attaches them onto a canvas – a process he describes as akin to traditional painting.

The result both celebrates and creates light, with reflections casting themselves onto the surrounding wall space in fragments and shadows.

Recycled water bottles | Tamara Greindl | A Posteriori

Balancing poeticism and playfulness, the surprising materials used by Tamara Greindl create miniature universes inspired by earthly beauty. They have a personal and introspective feel.

She began using recycled water bottles whilst working on the recovery of rubbish, shaping them into petals amongst gold accents. Once neglected waste, the bottles become a noble material that Tamara finds inspiring.

In this sense, she gives ‘dead’ material new, everlasting life.

Cotton yarn | Mathijs Siemens | Chiefs & Spirits

Dutch artist Mathijs Siemens intricately layers colourful yarn in architectural forms to create playful and eye-catching works. Having worked with many different and uncommon materials previously, he began prioritising cotton yarn due to the possibilities it presents in both two- and three-dimensions. His artworks are a playful combination between different elements, combined with colour and depth.

Old plywood | Bukang Lee | Mookji Contemporary Art

Bukang Lee ‘paints’ with old, scrapped plywood. As a material that naturally takes on new, evolving colours, each piece is used like a brush stroke to build narratives, memories or traces.

Treading the line between community and the self, each piece of wood plays its part in portraying a specific time and place. He often immortalises places that have been destroyed or displaced, or landscapes that no longer exist.

Despite their visual appeal, their message is poignant. They tell the story of marginalised communities forced to leave their homes behind.

‘Memories always come in pieces.’ – Bukang Lee

Barbies | Nicolette Bénard | Roof Art Gallery

Childhood toys become contemporary sculpture in the work of Nicolette Bénard. Seen, as long as they’ve been popular, as icons of beauty, the dolls represent the fine line between perfection and imperfection. This idea of flawlessness as a complete illusion is reflected in Nicolette’s use of plexiglass boxes to house her manipulated Barbies. Based in The Netherlands, her work is recognisable worldwide with its bright colours and dangling, deconstructed doll legs. The sense of humour is important to Nicolette, so we hope to see lots of smiles at Roof Art Gallery’s stand this February.

Denim | Kyungwon Kim | T&B Gallery

Whether it’s frayed hems, pockets or ripped seams, denim is the uncommon material of choice for Kyungwon Kim, a Korean artist who will be presented by T&B Gallery this edition.

We love the still life depictions she creates and the texture given from a diverse textile.

Floral arrangements, in particular, inspire Kyungwon. The petals are often formed from the soft strands of jean hems, and the stems from roughly cut seams.

Acrylic on bronze | Isabel Ritter | Gallery Ritter

Bronze, at first glance, might not immediately seem unusual as a material. After all, we see lots of contemporary bronze sculpture at our fair.

But what makes Isabel Ritter’s work uncommon is its subject matter – one you might not expect to lend itself to such a weighty, cumbersome, medium – and how it’s manipulated.

Using acrylic on her bronze castings of brightly coloured fruit peelings, you get the sense that they have an inherent lightness. The realism of her bananas and citrus is impressive.

You’ll be able to discover Isabelle’s work alongside our campaign artist, Daniel Engelberg, at Gallery Ritter’s stand.

Tulle | Carry Doorn | Roof Art Gallery

Also represented by Roof Art Gallery, Carry Doorn’s uncommon material is tulle, which she uses as a tool to occupy the middle ground between sculpture and two-dimensional image. Her layered use of textile builds up a canvas for her distinctive portraiture or abstraction, creating an impression which is both fragile and strong. These layers have a deeper meaning, however, as Carry is interested in the multi-layered nature of human life, as well as the multiple reactions to her art. Metal mesh and organza silk also make up her list of uncommon materials.

Affordable Art Fair Brussels will return 7 – 11 February at the iconic Tour & Taxis venue. We’re so excited to continue our ‘Spotlight’ section and champion these incredible artists working with uncommon materials. We hope you’ve enjoyed a taste of what’s to come and feel suitably inspired to join us at the fair. Make sure to secure your tickets now.

Lead image: Phillippine Henry de Frahan, Untitled, A POSTERIORI