°1975, Maaseik, BE Lives and works in Antwerp, Belgium.
Leon Vranken's forms and materials feel strangely familiar. They are elements that have been taken out of their context and which he redefines as if he were reinventing them. His works straddle various disciplines and explore the boundaries of sculpture, often characterized by the use of industrial materials and ready-mades. This working method has a long history, but unlike an impersonal and mechanical production process, as in minimal art, Vranken shows a poetic ensemble of sculptures that sometimes confuse themselves with their non-functionality.
His work can be found in the collection of the Middelheim Museum (Antwerp), and the Center for Contemporary Non-Objective Art (Brussel). He has had a solo exhibition at White Box (New York) and was part of the Beaufort Triënalle (Ostend).
Leon Vranken is represented by Gallery Sofie Van de Velde.
www.leonvranken.com
Solo exhibitions
'A salute to the wheel', Mariondecannière, Antwerp, BE
'Great plans, random ideas', Meessen De Clercq, Brussels, BE
'( 13 ) 2 = 1', LLS 387, ruimte voor actuele kunst, Antwerp, BE
'Paper, Scissors, Stone', Z33, Hasselt, BE
'A Cat’s Eye Perspective', Meessen De Clercq, Brussels, BE
'Don’t whistle ‘til you’re out of the wood', White Box, New York, US
'The Beauty of Painting (Chapter I)', Concertgebouw, Brugge, BE
'The Travelling Riddle', Stella Lohaus Gallery, Antwerp, BE
'The Garden with the Two-forked Paths', Diaz Contemporary, Toronto, CA 'Verger Barré', Maes en Matthys Gallery, Antwerp, BE
Group Exhibitions
'BEND STRETCH RELAX', Gallery Sofie Van de Velde, Antwerp, BE
'Fiac Projects (Le Petit Palais)', curated by Marc-Olivier Wahler, Paris, FR 'The Unending Gift', Meessen De Clercq, Brussels, BE 'Holes, Bumps, Discs and Knots', Art Partout Gallery, Antwerp, BE 'Beaufort', curated by Heidi Ballet, Knokke, BE 'The Gathering', Panthera Today, Brussels, BE
RE-art II, Brussels, BE
'Artist project', Art Brussels, Brussels, BE
'A.N.T.H.R.O.P.O.C.E.N.E', Meessen De Clercq, Brussels, BE 'No Walls', Fenix hall, Rotterdam, NL
'Homo Ludens', Meessen De Clercq, Brussels, BE 'Encounters at the Boundary', CC Puurs, BE 'RE-art', Kapel van het O.L.Vrouwehospitaal, Oudenaarde, BE 'Van de sokkel', Hof De Bist, Ekeren, BE 'Fata Morgana', IKOB, Eupen, BE
'Happy Birthday dear academie', Royal academy of Fine arts, curated by HELD, Antwerp, BE 'My little Paradise', Middelheim Museum, Antwerp, BE 'Up close and personal', Cultuurcentrum Mechelen, Mechelen, BE
Leon Vranken still life with lemons ll, 2022 concrete, lemons 85 x 70 cm
Leon Vranken cha cha cha (ll), 2022 acrylic on folded canvas 54 x 38 cm
Leon Vranken Gum, 2022 rubber, wooden bowl 120 x 100 cm
Leon Vranken The fruit picker, 2022 solid wood, hand-knotted wooden blanket, mdf, acrylic 110 x 107 x 80 cm
Leon Vranken Communicating vessels, 2020 concrete, plywood, rope, found objects 58 x 72 x 9 cm
Leon Vranken Monday to Sunday, 2021 acrylic on canvas 44 x 30 cm
Leon Vranken Partly cloudy, 2021 acrylic on canvas, pvc raincoat 120 x 100 x 23 cm
Leon Vranken Untitled, 2021 solid wood, concrete 200 x 32 x 27 cm
Leon Vranken 13 eclipses, 2017 linnen, textile intarsia 106 x 88 cm