Valérie Mannaerts

In the late 1990s, Mannaerts made her debut with works on paper in which she explored her own body and sexuality. Following in the footsteps of female artists from the 1960s and 1970s, for example Eva Hesse, she developed a distinctive and adventurous visual language rooted in organic and amorphous forms. In 2003, Mannaerts represented Belgium at the Venice Biennale together with the artist Sylvie Eyberg. She later broadened her practice to focus increasingly on sculpture.

She has explored this medium extensively. When does an object become a sculpture? Does it have to stand independently in space? And what role do light and shadow play? This focus on sculpture also deepened Mannaerts’ interest in architecture, spatiality and the relationship with the human body. She translates these concerns into installations, paintings, textile works, kimonos, functional objects, and public-space commissions that engage directly with their surroundings.

A publication by Walther König Verlag will be released to coincide with ‘Antennae’.