Philippe Van Gele

Philippe Van Gele was born is Ghent, Belgium, in 1979 and he has lived and worked in the area ever since. Despite being a young and emerging artist, he already has a style of his own.

His works are mostly abstract landscapes, which evoke foreign and distant places : Svalbard, Yosemite, mythical places with an aura of their own that he makes visible in his works. Titles can be unusual or unknown names as well, allowing the viewers to project on it not the social construct associated with a mythical destination but rather their own wanderlust and dreams of foreign lands. Their own emotions as well for Van Gele’s works have a strong evocative and expressive power.

When it comes to techniques, Van Gele uses mostly acrylic paint and his pieces are remarkable for their experiment with textures : the paint is worked on at length, dripped or scratched to produce a hazy yet powerful effect. The pieces are colorfoul in a way that is not garish but rather astonishingly soft and peaceful, though oozing an aura of mystery. Van Gele varnishes the paint with a UV resistant layer of varnish to keep the colours from fading over the years.

Though still young, Van Gele has already participated in several solo or group shows over the recent years. His works have been positively received by the public mostly because they demand of the viewer an active participation and a special type of engagement : it is only in this interaction that they find their meaning.