“Restless Still Life,” the first solo exhibition in Germany by Belgian artist Johan de Wit, explores movement and stillness, challenging traditional still life conventions.

De Wit’s work, rooted in shape and color, spans sculptures, videos, and picturesque objects. His creations reference art history from Antiquity to the present, evoking themes of landscapes, still lifes, and genre scenes. They also explore existential concerns—the fragility of human existence, the ephemerality of power, and the fleeting nature of pleasure. His works balance melancholy with humour, comfort, and care, leaving room for contemplation and emotion.

A master of materiality, De Wit constructs his artworks from paper, reinforced with resin and enriched with iron powders and pigments. Through a meticulous process of folding, denting, painting, and sanding, he creates layered surfaces that blur reality and illusion. Light plays a crucial role, revealing and concealing textures, deepening the enigmatic quality of his objects.

The exhibition features new works that reflect De Wit’s distinctive artistic language—sculptural assemblages that appear fragile yet possess resilience. His practice, inspired by Flemish Primitives, the Dutch Golden Age, and Giorgio Morandi, embraces a restless openness found in classical still lifes and landscapes.

Johan de Wit (*1960) lives and works in Ghent, Belgium. His work has been featured in group exhibitions at Museum Voorlinden in Wassenaar and MUHKA Antwerp, amongst others and is part of prominent collections such as Museum Voorlinden, SMAK Ghent, Collection Sanders, the Nationale Bank van Belgie in Brussels and the Stichting Mu.Zee in Oostende.

For more information: https://johandewit.be