BRAFA Art Fair

At BRAFA, Gallery Sofie Van de Velde will present a carefully curated dialogue between modern masters and contemporary artists. The selection reveals both continuities and tensions, exploring what connects generations of artists and highlighting the contrasts between artists of the same generation.

One theme that emerges is the notion of movement. The work of ealy 20th-century innovators such as Victor Servranckx, Wassily Kandinsky and Paul Klee is centred on the dynamics of rhythm and form, rooted in the progressiveness and energy of the avant-garde. This is contrasted with the tranquillity emanating from the paintings of Karin Hanssen, Ilse D'Hollander, Cristof Yvoré and the subtle works of Raoul De Keyser, Willy De Sauter and Christopher Colm Morrin. These artists allow the power of silence and concentration to take precedence over the urge for speed.

At the same time, the contemporary works of Pieter Jennes and Jesse Tomballe hold their ground alongside Andy Warhol's pop art. Vitality is brought to images by all three artists through the use of intensity of colour, repetition and rhythm. While Warhol draws inspiration from consumer society icons, Jennes and Tomballe explore more personal and intimate subjects. However, the energy and direct impact of their work places them in the same vein.

Collectively, this is not a retrospective, but an ongoing dialogue between eras and genres. Our presentation emphasises how themes such as movement and stillness, figuration and abstraction, repetition and variation constantly recur in new manifestations.