Stan Van Steendam

Brussels, Belgium

Artist Statement

Stan Van Steendam’s (b. 1985 Belgium, lives and works in Brussels and Lisbon) artistic oeuvre stands as an enigma, challenging established notions and inviting a departure from conventional ideas. His poetic and visceral creations defy reality, resulting in delicate sculptural skill and subtle monochromatic exploration. His research, rooted in intuition, seeks to dismantle the materiality of painting through a process that involves layering raw pigments, plaster, and epoxy resin on wood. This method engenders a new conception of the pictorial tradition, fostering fresh experiences. The vertical installation of his objects evokes an architectural heritage, despite being crafted solely for observation, they possess an inherent capacity to transcend functional constraints, inviting the viewer to explore concepts of entrance, access, and exit. Traditionally associated with functionality, these ideas transform into metaphors through the viewer’s shared experiences. This notion of portals, coupled with the imagined ability to peer beyond the picture, becomes the main element of engagement provoking contemplation on configuration, composition, color, and materials.

Artist Biography

Van Steendam holds a BA and MA in Visual Arts from Luca School of Arts, Ghent, Belgium. Significant solo and two-person shows have been held at Solito, Naples, Italy (2025); CARVALHO, New York, (2024); Barbé, Ghent, Belgium (2023, 2022); Jacob Bjorn Gallery, Aarhus, Denmark (2022); Uma Lulik, Lisbon, Portugal (2022); G/ART/EN, Como, Italy (2021); Galería Nordés, Santiago de Compostela, Spain (2021); Bjorn & Gundorph Gallery, Aarhus, Denmark (2021, 2020); Palazzo Monti, Brescia, Italy (2020); and Archiraar, Brussels, Belgium (2019). Van Steendam has been a resident artist at Fondation CAB, Brussels, Belgium (2024); Marfa, Texas (2023); and Palazzo Monti, Brescia, Italy (2019); among others. Publications include parallel, with an essay by Eugene Binder (2023); artist book Dust Road (2021); and além, with an essay by Alex Bacon (2020).

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b. 1985, Belgium
Lives and works between Brussels and Lisbon

SELECTED SOLO AND DUO EXHIBITIONS
2025 In Good Shape, duo show with Marta Martinova, curated by Vincent Vanden Bogaard, Solito, Naples (IT)
Jumble Shuffle, Better Go South, Stuttgart (DE)
2024 Thoroughfare, Carvalho, New York (USA)
2023 Paris, Texas, duo show with Bobby Dowler, Barbé, Ghent (BE)
2022 Traces, Jacob Bjorn Gallery, Aarhus (DK)
Arid, Uma Lulik, Lisbon (PT)
Down the Trail, Barbé Urbain, Ghent (BE)
2021 Saunter, Bjorn & Gundorph Gallery, Aarhus (DK)
De/Construction, duo show with Sarah Loibl, G/ART/EN, Como (IT)
Dust Road, Galería Nordés, Santiago de Compostela (ES)
2020 Lá de além, Bjorn & Gundorph Gallery, Aarhus (DK)
Palazzo Monti in collaboration with Sunday-S gallery and Bjorn & Gundorph Gallery, Brescia (IT)
2019 Lagoas, Archiraar, Brussels (BE)
2018 I’ve never built anything on new land, Barbé Urbain, Ghent (BE)
New Works, Asphodel, New York (USA)
Cinzento, Archiraar, Brussels (BE)

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025 Limits of Language, curated by Thom Oosterhof, Le Mont Art Space, Kaohsiung (TW)
Surface, Grand Tour in a collaboration with Romero Paprocki, Paris (FR)
Clipper Cuts, artist run project in a private apartment, curated by Stan Van Steendam, group show with Sara Anstis, Marta Ravasi,
María-Elena Pombo and Benoît Platéus, Brussels (BE)
2024 Clipper Cuts, artist run project in a private apartment, curated by Stan Van Steendam and Sara Torcato, group show with Bobby Dowler,
Vincenzo Schillaci and Michael Lombardo, Brussels (BE)
What Abstract Art Means to Me, group show with e.g. Kes Richardson, Lawrence Calver, Guillermo Pfaff, Daniel Jensen, Alzueta gallery, Barcelona (ES)
2023 In Medias Res, Barbé, Ghent (BE)
2022 Everybody Has a Plan Until they get punched in The Mouth, Barbé Urbain, Ghent (BE)
2021 Visible Invisible, group show with Philipp Modersohn, Manuel Burgener, curated by Domenico de Chirico, Barbé Urbain, Ghent (BE)
Staycation, Barbé Urbain, Ghent (BE)
2019 Summer Group Show including works from Private collections, Sunday-S Gallery, Copenhagen (DK)
ZWRT, Barbé Urbain, Ghent (BE)
2018 The future has no presence, Asphodel, New York (USA)
2017 Aspetti di superficie, Theca Gallery, Milan (IT)
Panach’, D’apostrof, Meigem (BE)

ARTIST RESIDENCIES
2024 Fondation CAB, Brussels (BE)
2023 Marfa, Texas (USA)
2021 Valke Vleug, Puurs (BE)
2019 Palazzo Monti, Brescia (IT)
2017 Cripta747, Torino (IT)
2016 Syntax, Lisbon (PT)
2015 Prainha, Pico (PT)

PUBLICATIONS
parallel, with an essay by Eugene Binder, published by Barbé gallery and Stan Van Steendam, 2023
Dust Road, artist book, 2021
além, with an essay by Alex Bacon, published by the artist, 2020
AKT magazine issue 3, with a text by Laura Bonne, 2020
consistenti meditazioni, text by Stefano Roberto Mazzatorta for exhibition catalogue chiarificazione, 2018
Dubuisson en Van Steedam, COLLECT AAA april, Ghent (BE), 2016

stanvansteendam.be

@stan__van__steendam

Stan Van Steendam

Artist Statement