The Chelsea art dealer Sean Kelly has staged the first comprehensive exhibition in the US devoted to the Belgian artist, Ilse D'Hollander. Eponymously named, the exhibition showcases 60 paintings and works on paper all created during a ten-year period prior to her untimely death.
'Even though Ilse’s oeuvre is compelling yet subtle, she had but one solo show in her entire life,' says Janine Cirincione, Sean Kelly's director and the show's curator. 'It’s exceedingly rare that you come across an artist whose entire body of work is so mature at a remarkably young age,' she adds.
D’Hollander’s spare compositions are based on blurred blocks and bands of color (which she then lays down as thin layers of oil paint in a palette ranging from taupe and slate blue to pale yellow that give a sense of luminosity and geometry), akin to the work of Nicolas de Staël and early Mondrian. A number of her works reference the Flemish landscape, while others are totally abstract.
'There's a sense of stepping into a picture plane that is intimate and filled with light,' says Cirincione. The painter’s 1996 Oostende, comprises vertical bands of forest green and black, flanking an evanescent body of pale jade.
Just as D’Hollander’s oil paintings are extraordinary, so too are her works on paper. 'She turned to a rather unconventional methodology. Ilse frequently applied multiple layers of oil paint on paper that are surprisingly small, a mere nine inches in length and width,' Cirincione explains. A case in point is the artist’s Untitled, 1996, a flush of pink and dove gray punctuated by a soft orange.
'She’s really a prodigy and merits considerable attention,' concludes Cirincione. No small praise.
D’Hollander’s spare compositions are based on blurred blocks and bands of colour which she then lays down as thin layers of oil paint to give a sense of luminosity and geometry. Pictured: Untitled, 1996
The presentation showcases 60 paintings and works on paper, all created during a ten-year period prior to her untimely death. Pictured: Untitled, 1996
’Even though Ilse’s oeuvre is compelling yet subtle, she had but one solo show in her entire life,’ says Janine Cirincione, Sean Kelly’s director and the curator of the show. Pictured left: Untitled, 1996. Right: Untitled, 1996
INFORMATION
’llse D’Hollander’ is on view until 6 February. For more information, visit Sean Kelly Gallery’s website
Photography: Guy Braeckman. Courtesy Sean Kelly Gallery
ADDRESS
Sean Kelly Gallery
475 Tenth Avenue
New York
-
A new Athens gallery is a celebration of old and new, a stone's throw from the AcropolisNew Athens gallery Melas Martinos by Local Local is a contemporary art space, a stone's throw from the Acropolis, in the Greek capital's Monastiraki neighbourhood
-
Haute Couture Week A/W 2025: live updates from the Wallpaper* teamFrom 7-9 July, Haute Couture Week A/W 2025 arrives in Paris. Follow along for a first look at the shows, presentations and other fashion happenings, as seen by the Wallpaper* editors
-
Boundaries between art and life dissolve in Katherine Hubbard's intimate documentation of her mother's illnessIn 'The Great Room', Katherine Hubbard merges caregiving for her mother with an unflinching documentary of the process
-
‘Her pictures looked like pictures everybody knew were the truth’: Diane Arbus at the ArmoryMatthieu Humery curates more than 400 of Arbus’ photographs at New York’s Park Avenue Armory – every picture she was known to have printed
-
Mystic, feminine and erotic: the power of Penny Slinger’s bodies as landscapeArtist Penny Slinger continues her exploration of the sacred, surreal feminine in a Santa Monica exhibition, ‘Meeting at the Horizon’
-
Out of office: the Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekIt was a jam-packed week for the Wallpaper* staff, entailing furniture, tech and music launches and lots of good food – from afternoon tea to omakase
-
Out of office: what the Wallpaper* editors have been up to this weekThis week saw the Wallpaper* team jet-setting to Jordan and New York; those of us left in London had to make do with being transported via the power of music at rooftop bars, live sets and hologram performances
-
Photographer Geordie Wood takes a leap of faith with first film, DiversGeordie Wood delved into the world of professional diving in Fort Lauderdale for his first film
-
New book celebrates 100 years of New York City landmarks where LGBTQ+ history took placeMarc Zinaman’s ‘Queer Happened Here: 100 Years of NYC’s Landmark LGBTQ+ Places’ is a vital tribute to queer culture
-
A major Takashi Murakami exhibition sees the world in kaleidoscopic colourThe Cleveland Art Museum presents 'Takashi Murakami 'Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow', exploring outrage and escapist fantasy
-
Ai Weiwei’s new public installation is coming soon to Four Freedoms State Park‘Camouflage’ by Ai Weiwei will launch the inaugural Art X Freedom project in September 2025, a new programme to investigate social justice and freedom
