Val Smets

Tomorrow in Ostend Opening of Metamorphoses at @galeriepoostende curated by @artus_mundi as part of NIGHTSHIFT 💙 3 pm – midnight Kursaal Oosthelling 10 See you there! NAUD BARBAIX QUINTEN CARTRYSSE TAMSIR DE HALLEUX ANGÉLIQUE DE LIMBURG ELIAS DRIESEN ARTHUR DUFOOR VICTOR GYBELS CLÉMENT JACQUES-VOSSEN PAPYTSHO MAFOLO VAL SMETS ABIGAIL TULIS FRAN VAN COPPENOLLE SEPPE VANCRAYWINKEL ROB VANOUDENHOVEN SIMON VERHEYLESONNE MCLOUD ZICMUSE

Happy Women’s day 💙

Vernissage zaterdag 14 maart 15u tot middernacht tijdens Nightshift (Nacht van de Musea en de Galerijen: Metamorphoses Metamorphoses brengt een krachtige selectie samen van werk door jonge kunstenaars die elk op hun eigen manier verandering, groei en verschuiving onderzoeken. In uiteenlopende media en beeldtalen tonen zij hoe vormen, ideeën en identiteiten zich voortdurend heruitvinden. De tentoonstelling beweegt zich tussen intuïtie en reflectie, tussen het persoonlijke en het collectieve. Wat de kunstenaars verbindt, is een gedeelde nieuwsgierigheid en de drang om te experimenteren: met materiaal, met betekenis en met wat kunst vandaag kan zijn. Metamorphoses nodigt uit om traag te kijken, verbanden te leggen en mee te bewegen met wat zich ontvouwt. Gecureerd door Artus Mundi. Met werk van: Naud Barbaix, Arthur Dufoor, Quinten Cartrysse, Victor Gybels, Tamsir de Halleux, Angélique de Limburg, Abigail Tulis, Fran Van Coppenolle, Val Smets, Simon Verheylesonne, Papytsho Mafolo, McCloud Zicmuse, Elias Driesen, Clément Jacques-Vossen, Seppe Vancraywinkel Een ontmoeting met nieuwe stemmen en nieuwe perspectieven — een momentopname van een generatie in transformatie. Kunstenaars Abigail Tulis, Clément Jacques-Vossen en Rob Vanoudenhoven nemen samen met galerist Bart Ramakers en directeur KAZ Peter Defurne deel aan een panelgesprek gemodereerd door Louise Souvagie in het Kursaal om 20u15. In deze video: Clément Jacques-Vossen, Val Smets, Arthur Dufoor, Elias Driesen … more to come! 🤗 Galerie P. 14 maart - 19 april

metamorphoses — group show studio moment save the date — 14.03 @galeriepoostende , ostend curated by @artus_mundi #valsmets #contemporarypainting #metamorphosis #hybridbodies #artstudio

Looking forward to seeing you @luxembourgartweek ! 💙 Main section B19 — @valeriusgallery B11 — @dauwensbeernaertgallery Capsules Project 23–25 Grand-Rue, Ville-Haute Grasping Flow | 2024 | 110 × 160 cm | oil on linen It happened Tomorrow | 2025 | mixed media Forest Whispers | 2024 | 110 × 160 cm | oil on linen #valsmets #luxembourgartweek #contemporaryart #painting #oilonlinen #artcapsules #artluxembourg

Capsules project @luxembourgartweek It Happened Tomorrow 💙 23, Grand-Rue, L-1661 Luxembourg It Happened Tomorrow is a site-specific installation that merges painting, sculptural forms, and natural elements within a vitrine during Luxembourg Art Week 2025, as part of the Capsule program. A large-scale image printed on fabric serves as a backdrop: a visual that pushes beyond its edges, inviting the viewer into another dimension. In the foreground, oversized mushroom sculptures appear to emerge from the print itself, challenging conventional perspectives and extending the painting into the real world. To ground these surreal volumes, Val Smets is incorporating fallen branches gathered with the support of Guillaume d’Outremont (@gdoproject ). These elements, suspended or placed on the floor, bring an organic, grounded presence into the composition. The mushrooms evoke the fantastic and the dreamlike; the branches introduce a raw, tactile layer that speaks to the cycles of nature and the persistence of what is real. Together, they create a tension that reflects the fragile balance between our projections and the actual world around us. The title, It Happened Tomorrow, points to this fluidity in our perception of time, an acknowledgment that the past and future continually shape the present. By weaving together surreal and natural elements, the project creates a layered space of encounter that is both personal and collective, questioning how we connect to our surroundings and to each other. Interview link in bio @valeriusgallery | booth B19 #luxembourgartweek #valsmets #capsulesproject #ithappenedtomorrow #installationart #surrealism #contemporaryart #natureinart #sculpture #painting #artinluxembourg #artweek2025 #vitrineinstallation

Truly excited to be part of @luxembourgartweek ’s Capsules project, officially opening tomorrow and on view until November 23. Deep thanks to everyone who made it possible — to friends and family for their support; to Renaud for managing the transportation; Jérôme from @opifex.galerie for handling the printing process with such calm and precision; @studiomaxreul and @gdoproject for the beautiful forest bath and for collecting the branches; and to the whole Luxembourg Art Week team; to Pauline, Moussa, Nasreddin, and Jules — for their assistance. Special thanks to @meldejmb for curating such a strong program, setting the tone for a powerful 2025 edition. It Happened Tomorrow explores the fluidity of time and interconnectedness. More images to come soon. Enjoy the walk. #ithappenedtomorrow #luxembourgartweek #capsule2025 #valsmets #contemporaryart #sitespecific #paintingexpanded #natureandart #artinstallation #surrealforms #timeandmemory #vitrineproject #luxembourgartist

Workshop.

Friends in Athens — I will be participating in Art Athina 2025 with Wilhelmina’s amongst a great line-up 💙 📍 Zappeion Megaron, Booth L13 September 18 – 22 @wilhelmina_s__ #artathina #artathina2025 #athensartfair #wilhelminas #valsmets

Tirana — Vila e Kuqe / Swimming Pool 💙❤️ Invited to paint by @libshkupolli and @destilcreativehub in the @bofillarquitectura -designed Vila e Kuqe in January and April, commissioned by the Prime Minister, I was asked to integrate fragments of Ismail Kadaré into the architecture. By the pool, the sentences became part of the space: « À bien y réfléchir, pour remonter à la surface la première chose à savoir c’est à quelle profondeur on est tombé » « Some of the chambers were pitch dark. In one, two points of light danced like a cat’s eyes » « J’ai vu des fantômes sur les eaux. Ils nageaient. Ils faisaient des signes avec leurs mains et leurs pieds. Ils riaient. » Placed on the main wall, they rise like memories breaking the surface. Hybrid forms drift along the sides, a tree takes root, shadows open. Ghosts — familiar presences throughout the project — accompany this passage between depth and light. #tirana #villaekuqe #ismailkadare #ricardobofill #valsmets #artinstallation #contemporaryart #memory #mythology #collectiveunconscious

Happy to share some views from the Black & White group show at @dauwensbeernaertgallery , which opened last Friday. Left. They will hear you | 2025 | 50X70 cm | Acrilyc, honey-based watercolor and oil on linen Right. Mirrored Landscape | 2025 | 50X70 cm | Acrilyc, honey-based watercolor and oil on linen Black and white as a metaphor for opposites ❤️💙— read here through venetian red and ultramarine. Two energies confronting and uniting, like yin and yang. Red, luminous and vital, meets blue, carrying time and renewal. Together they create inseparable and essential cycles of life. The opposite is also true. #dauwensbeernaert #brusselsartscene #brusselscontemporaryart #brusselsart #contemporarypainting #contemporaryartist #valsmets #artistbrussels #emergingartist #artcollectorcommunity #artcurators #paintingcontemporar

The Red House - FIRST FLOOR | 2025 | wall intervention, Tirana | Acrylic on concrete Prime Minister’s Order in the Bofill-designed diplomatic residence, Tirana. Curated by @libshkupolli with the support of @destilcreativehub Texts from Ismael Kadare #valsmets #theredhouse #tirana #wallintervention #acryliconconcrete #ricardobofill #diplomaticresidence #contemporaryart #artinstallation #sitepecificart #publicart #destil #ismailkadare