Nel Aerts (b.1987, Turnhout, Belgium), lives in Antwerp

Nel Aerts is both maker and subject of her paintings, drawings, and collages. Her work features strange cartoonish characters that explore the complex interplay between the self and the public persona of the artist, ironically addressing issues like sexuality, loneliness, pleasure, and power relations. Her solo exhibitions take the form of a theatrical mise en scene in which a variety of materials is applied, from fabrics and textiles to cardboard and stoneware. Nel Aerts had solo and duo shows at Stedelijk Museum Hoogstraten (Hoogstraten, 2022), Westfälischer Kunstverein (Münster, 2019), Kunsthalle Lingen (2019), Museum M (Leuven, 2019), De Warande (Turnhout, 2017), Kunsthalle Charlottenborg (Copenhagen, 2013) and Croxapox (Ghent, 2013). She exhibits regularly in the galleries which represent her work: Nino Mier Gallery (Los Angeles, New York, Marfa, Brussels), Eleni Koroneou Gallery (Athens), Carl Freedman Gallery (Margate) and Plus-One Gallery (Antwerp).

Image by Sebastien Steveniers.