The Gallery Issue: A map to explore Brussels
Plus: an update on our booming IRL community.
Reading time: about 3 minutes.
Happy Friday, friends. Let’s get practical, shall we?
You’ve been reading this newsletter for a while, learning about the art market and Brussels’ gallery scene. That’s great!
But now, you want to take matters into your own hands. You want to visit these galleries and see all this art yourself. That’s wonderful!
To help you on your journey, I’ve compiled a list of some 40 galleries you can find in Brussels, Antwerp and Knokke. You can find it on Google Maps here.
Some recommendations:
Check the map when you’re out and about, and have 30 minutes to spare. See if there’s something to discover where you are. Most galleries are pretty small, which means you can see everything on display in under an hour — and it also means you might not notice you just walked by a gallery a few steps back.
There’s a street in Saint Gilles where you can find some of the most well-known galleries in Brussels (Almine Rech, Mulier Mulier and Xavier Hufkens) next to one that just opened last year (Peter Gaugy, whose primary location is in Vienna). You can see a lot in a short span of time, and learn a lot by striking up conversations with the gallerists.
Other personal favorites are Alice Gallery, which recently moved into a bigger building, and Sorry We’re Closed.
Some announcements:
A couple months ago, I began bringing subscribers together through various events:
I gave a tour of Art Brussels, Belgium’s biggest contemporary art fair, walking around while explaining the inner workings of the art market, the relationship between galleries and artists and why prices are never shown on the walls
We took a tour of ‘When We See Us,’ a fantastic show of figurative, contemporary African art at Bozar
We were invited to visit Objects With Narratives, a fantastic gallery specializing in collectible design and functional art, located in a glorious 3-story building at Sablon. We got to learn about various designers and even sit on some peculiar chairs.
… and we’ve been coordinating all of this, as well as discussing other events taking place in Brussels, in a booming LinkedIn group.
Since then, other galleries and institutions have reached out with invitations. I’m excited to continue bringing you all together in real life.
Perhaps we should have ourselves a community night soon?
Announcement number 2:
I will be giving a workshop on contemporary art — what it is, how to understand it and why your 5-year old could not have done that — this coming Tuesday, May 27th.
Piece of the week
Ten years before they met, Lucia Canto’s partner was working in a restaurant in Rome, wearing these shoes day in and day out. He kept them around in his apartment. In her eyes, they became a symbol of the life he had before her.
I came across this work at Art Brussels and, after receiving the explanation from her gallerist, it felt to me quite a touching portrait of her beloved. Pillows and bedsheets are often used to symbolize intimacy and romance; they speak for themselves.
What’s going on?
This weekend:
Brussels Jazz Weekend comes with jazz concerts scattered throughout the city
Open air movie screenings in Grand Place, May 25-28
Next up:
Antwerp Art Weekend , during which contemporary art takes over the entire city, is coming up next week. I’m told the best day to go is Thursday, which also happens to be a bank holiday. What a glorious coincidence.
Every last Friday of the month, Villa Empain, the Art Deco masterpiece near Bois de La Cambre, brings in a DJ and keeps the building open (very) late.
Have a good weekend — and see you soon?
Ana