Gallery Sofie Van de Velde is pleased to announce the representation of Joris Van de Moortel.
The representation marks a new chapter in a relationship between Joris Van de Moortel and Gallery Sofie Van de Velde that reaches back more than a decade. Van de Moortel first presented work with the gallery in 2013, followed by Ne Vacuum, a performance with A.F. Vandevorst, in 2015. In 2017, he took part in wordswordswords and later that year curated Celebrations Part 1 – Let There Be Light at the gallery. What began through individual projects and exhibitions now develops into a structural collaboration.
This new chapter develops in close dialogue with Galerie Nathalie Obadia in Paris and Brussels, who have represented Van de Moortel since 2013.
Joris Van de Moortel (b. 1983) has developed a multidisciplinary practice in which painting, sculpture, installation, film, music and performance continuously intersect. At its heart lies a fascination with energy and transformation: through sound, movement and ritual, his performances activate and transform the spaces they inhabit, while paintings and objects often carry traces of these actions. Drawing on art history, religion, mythology and his own evolving cosmology, Van de Moortel creates encounters between work and audience, bringing chaos and order, past and present, destruction and creation into constant dialogue.
It is precisely this ability to create a direct and shared experience that makes Van de Moortel’s practice an important addition to the gallery’s programme. His work opens up a space in which art is not only something to look at, but something that can be experienced collectively.
Gallery Sofie Van de Velde will present a solo booth by Joris Van de Moortel at Art Antwerp in December 2026. This will be followed by his first solo exhibition at the gallery during Antwerp Art Weekend in May 2027, where the performative and musical dimensions of his practice will play a central role.
Recent solo exhibitions include S.M.A.K., Ghent; Ghisla Foundation, Locarno; Cultuurhuis de Warande, Turnhout; and Galerie Nathalie Obadia in Paris and Brussels. His work has also been presented at BOZAR, Brussels; Palais de Tokyo, Paris; LaM, Villeneuve d’Ascq; and the Cairo Biennial, where he received the Grand Nile Prize in 2019.
His work is held in collections including the Vehbi Koç Foundation, Istanbul; Centraal Museum, Utrecht; Belfius Art Collection; Collectie Vlaamse Gemeenschap; and Ghisla Art Collection, Locarno.
Joris Van de Moortel, now represented by Gallery Sofie Van de Velde
September 10, 2026
