Biography

°1992, Antwerp, BE
Lives and works in Sint-Niklaas.

Catharina Dhaen’s approach to painting is rooted in sensitivity. As Els Wuyts once wrote: “With a great sense of artistic freedom, Catharina Dhaen creates paintings that are composed of different layers and are then overpainted. Personal moments from her daily life, from an autobiographical memory to an observed event, appear as pictorial motifs on her canvases. She approaches each painting as a finely balanced play between the figurative and the abstract, between the identifiable and the invisible.”

Her works, though seemingly joyful and colorful, invoke a sense of free-spiritedness, as if she is doing whatever she likes. It is exactly this radical way of claiming her freedom that provides her with a framework to create precisely what she desires. It’s a liberty carefully crafted, and despite the surface’s playfulness, there lingers an interplay of seduction and betrayal that provokes further contemplation.

Catharina Dhaen’s works have been exhibited in institutions such as M HKA, Emergent, Voorkamer, and Musée Marthe Donas, as well as in CC Binder in Puurs, De Witte Rook in Breda, and the Citymuseum in Menen, amongst others.

Catharina Dhaen is represented by Gallery Sofie Van de Velde.

www.catharinadhaen.com

°1992, Antwerp, BE
Lives and works in Sint-Niklaas.

Catharina Dhaen’s approach to painting is rooted in sensitivity. As Els Wuyts once wrote: “With a great sense of artistic freedom, Catharina Dhaen creates paintings that are composed of different layers and are then overpainted. Personal moments from her daily life, from an autobiographical memory to an observed event, appear as pictorial motifs on her canvases. She approaches each painting as a finely balanced play between the figurative and the abstract, between the identifiable and the invisible.”

Her works, though seemingly joyful and colorful, invoke a sense of free-spiritedness, as if she is doing whatever she likes. It is exactly this radical way of claiming her freedom that provides her with a framework to create precisely what she desires. It’s a liberty carefully crafted, and despite the surface’s playfulness, there lingers an interplay of seduction and betrayal that provokes further contemplation.

Catharina Dhaen’s works have been exhibited in institutions such as M HKA, Emergent, Voorkamer, and Musée Marthe Donas, as well as in CC Binder in Puurs, De Witte Rook in Breda, and the Citymuseum in Menen, amongst others.

Catharina Dhaen is represented by Gallery Sofie Van de Velde.

www.catharinadhaen.com

	Selected Solo and Duo Exhibitions
2024	'Metamorphosis', Gallery Sofie Van de Velde, Antwerp, BE
2021	The Wunderwall, Brussels (BE)
2020	'L'heure bleue', Gallery Sofie Van de Velde & PLUS-ONE Gallery, Antwerp, BE 'Through the looking-glass', Gallery Sofie Van de Velde, Antwerp, BE
2019	'Identity Liquid', Witte Rook, Breda, NL 'Momentum', Galerie Zwart Huis, Brussels, BE
2018	'Pentimenti', Philippus Nijs, Temse, BE
2016	'40', BLEEK, Sint-Niklaas, BE
	Group Exhibitions (selection)
2024	'Don't think twice, it's all right', Gallery Sofie Van de Velde, Antwerp, BE
2023	'Biënnale Aalter', Kasteel van Poeke, Aalter, BE 'De Kamers van Zé', Antwerp, BE NAFT kunstenfestival STEM Zwijgershoek, Sint-Niklaas, BE 'Twee Huizen', collectie Das Dingenen, Duffel, BE 'Do re mi fa sol cafe do', CAS Contemporary Art Space, Zottegem, BE 'Call me by your meme', M HKA, Antwerpen, BE Atelier in beeld, Sint-Niklaas, BE Art Rotterdam, Gallery Sofie Van de Velde, Rotterdam, NL Art Antwerp, Gallery Sofie Van de Velde, Antwerp, BE
2022	Art Antwerp, Gallery Sofie Van de Velde, Antwerp BE 'All I want for Christmas', We Invite, Waregem, BE Atelier in beeld, Sint-Niklaas, BE '100', STEM Zwijgershoek, Sint-Niklaas, BE 'Vier maal vier', WARP, Sint-Niklaas, BE
2021	Art Antwerp, Gallery Sofie Van de Velde, Antwerp, BE 'Art At Work', Domein De Cellen, Oostkamp, BE 'Das – Dingenen', CC Zwaneberg, Heist-Op-Den-Berg, BE 'Ex aequo, double takes', De Koolputten, Waasmunster, BE Benefietveiling for Emergent, Thermae Palace and Léon Spiliaerthuis, Oostende, BE 'A possible future', Red Passion Gallery Powered by Campari, online exhibition Ballroom Project, Borgerhub, Antwerp, BE NAFT, STEM Zwijgershoek, Sint-Niklaas, BE 'Tarot Editions', 019, Ghent, BE
2019	'Tragoudia', Courthouse Oostende, Oostende, BE 'Scenarios of Desire II', Emergent, Veurne, BE Art Brussels, Gallery Sofie Van de Velde, Brussels, BE Art Rotterdam, Gallery Sofie Van de Velde, Rotterdam, NL 'Looking at the world through rose colored glasses', Gallery Sofie Van de Velde, Antwerp, BE 'Salon de peinture', MUHKA, Antwerp, BE 98th annual exhibition, Vierkante Zaal, Sint-Niklaas, BE
2018	'Gebroed', CC De Steiger, Menen, BE
2017	'In the picture', Gallery Sofie Van de Velde, Antwerp, BE 'Twins', De Wasserij, Lokeren, BE 'Input-output', De Bond, Brugge, BE 'Tuinfeest 2017', Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, BE Pop-up exhibition by Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Kerkstraat 61 Sint-Martens-Latem, BE '4. vader/ dochter', De Wasserij, Lokeren, BE 'De Biënnale van België', In De Ruimte, Ghent, BE Art Rotterdam, Gallery Sofie Van de Velde, Rotterdam, NL
2016	ArtContest, ADAM Museum, Brussels, BE 'More canvas please', Gallery Sofie Van de Velde, Antwerp, BE 'Tumult', CAMPO, Ghent, BE 'Regards Partagés', Musée Marthe Donas, Ittre, BE Art Rotterdam, Gallery Sofie Van de Velde, Rotterdam, NL 'The Saint, the Fox and their Dictionary', AP+, Rio de Janeiro, BR
2015	'Lucht', Vierkante Zaal, Sint-Niklaas, BE 'Fixatif', Zwarte Zaal, Ghent, BE 'Dialoog', Gallery Sofie Van de Velde, Antwerp, BE
2014	'Don’t steal my moment', Zwarte Zaal, Gent, BE 'Une femme est une femme', PAK, Gistel, BE 'Tumultingent#2', KASK, Gent, BE '5 squared', Bohunk Institute, Nottingham, UK 'Here’s looking at you, kid!', Kunstencentrum België, Hasselt, BE 'Vlak Land', Zwarte Zaal, Gent, BE
2013	'Winter has me in its grip', PAK, Gistel, Be 'Pop-up expo', Ateliers Bonnefanten, Hasselt, BE 'Mind the gap', WARP, Sint-Niklaas, BE 'Vuurdoop', Kunsttoren KASK, Gent, BE 'Singular surroundings', Voorkamer, Lier, BE
	Artist in residence
2019	Witte Rook, Breda (NL)
2018	Stadsmuseum 't Schippershof, Menen, BE
2016	Marterproject "The Saint, the fox and their Dictionary", Rio de Janeiro, BR
2020	Through the looking-glass, Gallery Sofie Van de Velde, Antwerp, BE
2013	Bachelorproject "Singular Surroundings", Voorkamer, Lier (BE)

Bibliography

2019	“Onder de vrolijkheid wringt het. Over het werk van Catharina Dhaen” – The Art Couch Magazine
2019	“Catharina Dhaen at the Galerie Zwart Huis, Brussels” – Wall Street International Magazine
2017	“Auction catalogue Garden Party Museum Dhondt Dhaenens", catalogue
2017	“The best of both worlds“, The Word Magazine
2017	“Catharina Dhaen“, D!NG magazine (2017)
2017	“Art Rotterdam 2017”, catalogue
2016	“ArtContest”, catalogue
2016	“Catharina Dhaen, Graduation 2016”
2016	“School of Arts KASK - Graduation 2016”, catalogue
2016	“Seven Belgian-based artists to keep on your radar – Catharina Dhaen“, The Word Magazine
2016	“Regards partagés”, catalogue
2015	“Dialoog”, hART magazine
2014	“Une femme est une femme”, publication by PAK Gistel
2014	“Op een dag”, limited edition, privately printed
2014	“Catharina Dhaen", D!NG magazine