DMW Gallery is thrilled to announce Bram De Jonghe’s (b.1985) upcoming solo exhibition Après nous, les mouches at the gallery’s location in Antwerp, from 27 January to 9 March. It will be De Jonghe’s first solo at DMW, bringing together a selection of new work as well as several sculptures recently exhibited at Art Antwerp. The exhibition title refers to a Belgian idiom “après moi, les mouches”, translated literally as “after me, the flies”, a proposal to not care or worry about the future – the flies can deal with it.

A scallop shell nestled in the crook of a dented steel bar, the husk of a mussel burrowed in a sheet of aluminium, or an animal bone wedged between metal beams—De Jonghe highlights the delicacy of natural elements faced against the hardiness of manmade objects, with a nonchalant flair. Bordering on the absurd, toying with the concept of the readymade, the artist’s work raises more questions than answers, forcing viewers to interact with his art emotionally instead of attempting to make sense of it. “As humans, we tend to put everything we find and what happens to us into rational frameworks. In doing so, we relativise feelings,” explains De Jonghe, “If there is no rational ground, you have to look at the art from an emotional point of view.”

“I believe in man as creator, solver, and finder. The gestures I’d like to make as an artist are not merely aesthetic nor do they originate from a critical attitude towards the history of art. I favour the visual residue of do-it-yourself spirituality. I embrace complex ideas that lend themselves to clumsy visualizations, which humanize their coded beauty. I am a practical dreamer that wants to stimulate the intuitive wisdom of each and every individual.”

Après nous, les mouches will open on 27 January, with a vernissage from 4–8 PM, and will run through 9 March 2024, at 15 Koolstraat, 2140 Antwerp.

Bram De Jonghe (b. 1985, Ostend, BE) lives and works in The Hague (NL). De Jonghe graduated with a Master’s in Sculpture in 2007 and a Master’s in Visual Design in 2009 at Sint- Lucas, Ghent. De Jonghe was winner of the Volkskrant Visual Arts Prize (2015). He won the public art commission Just a Few Seconds (2022) to create a site-specific installation for the building of the Haagse Hogeschool (NL). Recent exhibitions include: Art Antwerp, DMW Gallery, Antwerp (2023); Pot Luck, Ballroom Gallery, Brussels (2023); Long Story Short (solo), Dürst Britt & Mayhew, The Hague (2023); All’s Well That Ends Well, Ballroom Gallery, Brussels (2022); and The connection, cur. Robbin Heyker, Billytown, The Hague (2022). Work by De Jonghe is held in private and public collections, including the Fries Museum (NL) and the Ahold Collection. Bram De Jonghe is represented by DMW Gallery.