Nel Aerts (b. 1987, Belgium) is an artist who works across a variety of media such as painting, performance, drawing, collages, sculptures and artist books. Portraiture is the thread with which the artist weaves her imaginative body of work. Nel Aerts’ humorous imagery plays with popular culture and relates strongly to everyday objects. In her paintings Aerts builds fictional worlds inspired by the environments she grew up in. The personal, performative, time-based, and constructed aspect of her work runs throughout the various media that she has come to explore, ranging from the artist book to etched paintings on wooden panels. Initially serving as a basis for her paintings, Aerts’ collages on paper consist of roughly cut colour planes arranged to form landscapes Using a generous helping of humour, Aerts merges her fantasy, her surroundings and the art scene into a whole which is both poetic and playful, as well as absurd and grotesque.
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- Nel Aerts, An impossible dialogue on repeat, 2014. Acrylic on wood, 175 x 122 cm. Courtesy of Carl Freedman Gallery, London
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- Nel Aerts, Lady Teardrop, falling from the black sky, 2014. Acrylic on wood, 81.5 x 68.5 cm. Courtesy of Carl Freedman Gallery, London
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- Nel Aerts, Der ridder und der idiot, 2013, Acrylic and filler on wood, 80 x 68 cm. Courtesy of Carl Freedman Gallery, London
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- Nel Aerts, Frau Blau, 2014. Acrylic on wood, 122 x 81.5 cm. Courtesy of Carl Freedman Gallery, London
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- Nel Aerts, Frau Wolke Esser, 2014. Acrylic on wood, 82 x 68 cm. Courtesy of Carl Freedman Gallery, London
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- Nel Aerts, Johnny is getting upset, 2014. Acrylic and pencil on wood, 122 x 100 cm. Courtesy of Carl Freedman Gallery, London
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- Nel Aerts, Lord Little Tree, 2014. Acrylic on wood, 53 x 43 cm. Courtesy of Carl Freedman Gallery, London
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- Nel Aerts, Mistress from the Shady Lady Ranch, 2014. Acrylic on wood, 122 x 81.5 cm. Courtesy of Carl Freedman Gallery, London
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- Nel Aerts, Mr W.R. Melting, 2014, Acrylic on wood, 122 x 81 cm. Courtesy of Carl Freedman Gallery, London
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- Nel Aerts, Poodle sail away, 2013. Acrylic and pencil on wood, 68 x 80.5 cm. Courtesy of Carl Freedman Gallery, London
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- Nel Aerts, Prins Hartseer (Prince Heartache), 2014. Acrylic on wood, 122 x 81 cm. Courtesy of Carl Freedman Gallery, London
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- Nel Aerts, Queen of the Purple Dead, 2014. Acrylic on wood, 122 x 81 cm. Courtesy of Carl Freedman Gallery, London
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- Nel Aerts, The First Lady of Antwerpia, 2014. Acrylic on wood, 71.5 x 60 cm. Courtesy of Carl Freedman Gallery, London
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- Nel Aerts, Sailor of the Sea, Lover of the Bottle, 2014. Acrylic on wood, 122 x 81 cm. Courtesy of Carl Freedman Gallery, London
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- Nel Aerts, Lord of the Forest, Ruler of the Trees, 2014. Acrylic on wood, 68.5 x 48 cm. Courtesy of Carl Freedman Gallery, London
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- Nel Aerts, The lonely at sea, 2014. Acrylic on wood, 79 x 61.5 cm. Courtesy of Carl Freedman Gallery, London
Nel Aerts (b. 1987) studied at Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent (KASK) from 2005-2009. She lives and works in Antwerp, Belgium. Recent solo exhibitions include Castillo/Corrales, Paris (2014); Galleri Specta, Copenhagen (2014); Frankendael Foundation, Amsterdam (2013); Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen (2013) and Galerie VidalCuglietta, Brussels (2012). Group shows include Astrup Fearnley Museet, Oslo (2014); Kunsthal Kade, Amersfoort (2014); Junior Projects, New York (2014); Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna (2013); Be-Part, Waregem (2013); WIELS, Brussels (2012); Kunstraum, London (2012); De Garage, Mechelen (2011) and S.M.A.K., Ghent (2009). She recently had her first solo show in London at Carl Freedman Gallery.
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