RendezVous — Brussels Art Week is an annual celebration of the city’s diverse contemporary art scene, connecting galleries, institutions, artist-run spaces, and collective studios. Taking place each September, the event marks the reopening of the art season following the summer break.
For its inaugural edition from September 12 to 15, 2024, RendezVous will feature 52 participating galleries, offering a packed weekend of exhibition openings, performances, and impromptu gatherings across downtown, midtown, and uptown Brussels. From works imbued with “delightful horror” by John Fou at Stems Gallery to Bilal Hamdad’s naturalistic depictions of contemporary solitude at Templon, check out our list below of five must-see shows during the RendezVous festivities.
Cave Canem by John Fou at Stems Gallery
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Stems Gallery
On view through October 5 at Stems Gallery, Cave Canem by John Fou takes its title from a Roman mosaic discovered in Pompeii, which depicted a menacing dog as a warning to visitors. Fou revives this reference to explore myth and the tension between humans and animals, visible and invisible, creating works that evoke “delightful horror” akin to Romanticism.
Using layered pencil and paint, Fou’s paintings depict humans and non-humans emerging and dissolving into surreal, dreamlike backgrounds. Inspired by works like Goya’s The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters, Fou’s pieces are dynamic, constantly shifting, as figures contort and evolve in a psychedelic dance.
Stems Gallery
Rue du Prince Albert 4
1050 Ixelles, Belgium
Portals by Melissa Gordon at Beige Brussels
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“beige
Currently on view at Beige Brussels, Gordon’s first solo exhibition in the city presents a recent series of paintings inspired by photographs of her female artist friends’ studios. These works explore the spaces where women create, blending architectural elements with a painterly approach to evoke the presence of other places.
In her pieces, windows become painterly zones, marked by imprints, spills, and organic material. Traditionally a symbol of painting’s flatness, Gordon uses the window as a metaphor for contemplating the unknown future through abstract gestures.The exhibition also features alterations, including a brick wall rubbing that emphasizes the illusion of space, as well as a new series of drawings called Sayings. Accompanying the show is a written piece on the “weird” in painting, available as a handout, adding further depth to this multi-layered presentation.
Beige Brussels
Rue Coppens 31000
Bruxelles, Belgium
When It Was Dark I Called and You Came by Arisa Yoshioka at Gladstone Gallery
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Studio Shivi And Gladstone Gallery
Gladstone Gallery presents When It Was Dark I Called and You Came, an exhibition by Japanese-Mongolian artist Arisa Yoshioka, from September 11 to October 12, 2024. Yoshioka’s work blends still life, portraiture, and landscape painting, often incorporating assemblage elements. Her narrative scenes explore the fine line between the material world and the dreamlike, infusing familiar subjects with what she calls “the esoteric beauty of everyday magic.”
Using photographic sources as inspiration, Yoshioka reimagines perspective and form, creating layered compositions that fluctuate between detailed and loose gestures. Her coarse-pored canvases alternate between muted and vibrant, filled with subtle natural elements like animals and plants that shift the viewer’s interpretation.
Gladstone Gallery
Rue du Grand Cerf 12
1000 Bruxelles, Belgium
Out of Time by Jess Allen at Nino Mier Gallery
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Nino Mier Gallery
Nino Mier Gallery presents Out of Time, an exhibition by British artist Jess Allen, running from September 12 to October 26, 2024, in Brussels. Featuring oil paintings of domestic interiors, Allen’s work captures the interplay of light and shadow, evoking the passage of time and memory. Her compositions focus on architectural details and furniture—cushions, benches, walls—bathed in deep reds, greens, and blues. Stark shadows cast across these elements act as an “inverted spotlight,” highlighting presence through absence.
Allen’s shadows represent fleeting moments, much like memories, and offer a minimal, evocative reflection of our physical selves. Through these shadowy figures and sparse details, the works invite viewers to project their own experiences and emotions, creating an intimate, symbiotic connection. Out of Time is a contemplative exploration of absence, loss, and the everyday, transforming ordinary interiors into meditations on memory and the passage of time.
Nino Mier Gallery
Rue Ernest Allard 25
1000 Bruxelles, Belgium
Reflets by Bilal Hamdad at Templon Gallery
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Templon Gallery
Bilal Hamdad is known for his naturalistic depictions of contemporary solitude, Hamdad’s work explores themes of isolation in public spaces, intimacy, and social interaction. His latest exhibition Reflets, running from September 12 to October 31, 2024, at Templon Gallery, features a dozen new canvases, including large and medium format pieces created during his residency at Casa de Velázquez in Madrid.
Inspired by Spanish masters like Velázquez and Goya, as well as artists influenced by Hispanic culture such as Rubens and Manet, Hamdad’s paintings use chiaroscuro effects to blend urban scenes with historical references, offering multiple interpretations.
Templon
Rue Veydt 13A
1060 Bruxelles
Belgium
