Koen van den Broek – Of(f) Road

House facades, street canyons, vehicles and sidewalks. Since the early 2000s, the Belgian artist Koen van den Broek has made his urban present the subject of his paintings. He moves with ease along the boundaries of abstraction and representation of reality.

His works depict very unique excerpts from initially inconspicuous, deserted places: abstract surfaces become magnificent streets through the addition of a few details; Curbs and shadows become compositional visual devices and the generous monochrome use of color directs the viewer’s eyes. Despite the absence of people in the images, their presence can be felt everywhere: bridges, sewers, street lights, pipes, house walls with advertising messages or cars. Koen van den Broek finds his inspiration in photos that he takes on road trips, mainly through the USA.

Removed from their original context, his motifs develop a life of their own. His paintings zoom in on these details as if by themselves, arranging and composing colors, light and shadows and always leading the painter towards abstraction. Playfulness, diversity and duality – rigid boundaries versus wild brushstrokes, depth versus surface – are characteristic of his painting. The exhibition is a co-production with the Magdeburg Art Museum and shows a cross-section of Koen van den Broek’s painterly work from 1998 to the present. For the first time, the painter’s work, which he has created over 25 years, will be on display in its entirety in the two German art museums. Further Informations here: https://www.art-in.de/ausstellung.php?id=8857