House animals
House animals
Trans Europa Express - Station Belgien
26.10.2025 – 08.02.2026, group exhibition
Kunsthaus NRW Kornelimünster, Aachen (DE)
Following the prelude with David Claerbout, Kunsthaus NRW will be continuing its »Trans Europe Express« exhibition series with a showcase of young contemporary art from Belgium – a country with a long-standing tradition of painting and a penchant for humorous and surrealistic art. The group exhibition will be focusing on »pictorial works« in all their diversity.
With his digitally designed, woven tapestries, Victor Verhelst demonstrates how the tradition of tapestry can be redefined. At the Kunsthaus NRW, he will also present his techno video installation on a large-scale LED wall in a historic vaulted cellar. Taking inspiration from the exhibition title, artist duo Deborah Bowmann stages a cheerful parcours featuring interactive elements such as a security barrier. Surprising sounds can be heard, evoking echoes of the famous studio album »Trans Europe Express« (1977) by Düsseldorf’s sound pioneers Kraftwerk.
The variety of Belgian painting is evident in the astonishing trompe-l’œil paintings by Charline Tyberghein and in the material assemblages of Louise Delanghe, who incorporates real objects into her paintings. Kristof Santy’s monumental depictions of patisserie or lemonade draw on folkloristic visual traditions and everyday life. In her portraits, Shirley Villavicencio Pizango, who grew up in Peru, takes encouragement from the visual language of Indigenous art. The figures are embedded in an environment of textiles, pottery, and geometric shapes referencing the Incas.
The tour concludes in the »Chapel Room« with an installation of hand-painted costumes by Sietske Van Aerde. Here, she brings female hybrid creatures, part human and part animal, into contact with the monastic décor.
INTERVENTION NO BORDER: NRW-BELGIUM At the same time, we show in our Mirror Gallery works by four female artists from North Rhine-Westphalia who maintain close artistic exchanges with Belgium : Kati Heck, Johanna Roderburg, Felicitas Rohden, Monika Stricker.
The Kunsthaus NRW is concerned to connect artists across Europe, which is an important support for artists in North-Rhine-Westphalia. The art scenes in Germany and Belgium are traditionally closely linked, especially in the border region. However, they also differ in terms of public funding, the education system, and also current art-making has its own focal points. The cross-border exchange makes use of the Kunsthaus’ geographical location close to Belgium with its diverse cultural regions.
On 14 November 2025, a panel discussion in cooperation with VERY CONTEMPORARY will take a look on the art scenes in Belgium and Germany.
The exhibition is curated by Elke Kania and Dr. Marcel Schumacher and opens on 25 October 2025 in the run-up to the art fair Art Cologne.
Photo 1: Carl Brunn
Photo 2: Sandra Borchers, (c) KNRW