Rinus Van de Velde explores the clear yet obscure definition of ‘reality’ and ‘fiction’, and moreover their intriguing relation. His practice is an outcome of his persistent investigation of those concepts, and narratives constructed by adaptations of them. Fiction, reality and considerable potential of their loose boundary are the key word to understand Van de Velde’s artistic practice. Through the last solo exhibition at Gallery Baton, Van de Velde mainly unveiled his new series of small-sized colored pencil drawings. Although the colorful images which are rarely found in his previous works maintain the layout of his black charcoal paintings, they are reminiscent of trivial events or static landscapes by Edward Hopper due to their relatively small scale. His charcoal paintings pay homage to conventional materials, whereas color drawings remind us of contemporary digital formats such as Instagram, since they have the wider color spectrum and relatively elevated visibility.

Rinus Van de Velde lives and works in Antwerp, Belgium. He has held solo exhibitions at BOZAR in Belgium, Kunstmuseum Luzern in Switzerland, Frac des Pays de la Loire in France. His works are in the collections including S.M.A.K, Belfius Art Collection, Royal museum of Fine Arts in Belgium, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag in Netherlands.