Koen van den Broek's "Gravity" opens at Galerie Ron Mandos, showcasing new paintings and sculptures
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Friday, April 4, 2025


Koen van den Broek's "Gravity" opens at Galerie Ron Mandos, showcasing new paintings and sculptures
Installation view.



AMSTERDAM.- Galerie Ron Mandos is presenting Gravity, a solo exhibition by Koen van den Broek. The exhibition showcases new paintings and sculptures, reflecting a transformation in his approach to materials and image-making. Gravity runs from March 23 to May 11, 2025.


Explore the Striking Landscapes of Koen van den Broek: Delve into his photo-diary inspired paintings in this compelling book. Click here to purchase.


For almost three decades, van den Broek has traveled extensively, capturing location-specific scenes through photography and translating them into paintings. His work has long explored road culture, movement, and the aesthetics of the built environment, depicting highways and urban landscapes. In 2023, he reoriented his approach, treating the canvas itself as a road. Using materials typically reserved for street markings, such as road paint and tar, he applies color in precise bands and lines, integrating both the physical and aesthetic language of infrastructure into his work. This shift merges and redefines the two surfaces that have shaped his paintings: the road and the canvas.

Employing small, commercial machines designed for manual paint application, van den Broek creates precise lines and steady bands of color, often whites, yellows, and reds; reminding of Jackson Pollock’s floor-based work from the 1940s. Tar and bitumen add structure, shape, and volume to his compositions, developing his engagement with materiality. His new canvases function as landscapes of their own, where road codes are reimagined as autonomous aesthetic forms, blurring the line between representation and abstraction.

For the first time in his career, van den Broek introduces bronze sculptures, works that echo the styles of De Kooning, Newman, and Giacometti while maintaining an unique connection to exploration and movement. These sculptures originated from digital iPhone stickers, created from photographs of his new works, including the Firminy series and the monumental Grand Firminy, exhibited at KMSKA (Royal Museum for Fine Arts in Antwerp) during the group exhibition What’s the Story? in 2024. From these digital sketches, he developed three-dimensional forms that were then cast in bronze.

Van den Broek paints these bronzes with oil, a material he had previously set aside. While oil paint was once central to his practice, it now functions as an element within a broader material vocabulary that includes tar, bronze, and road paint. On canvas, he reintroduces oil in combination with these materials, on the intersection of different mediums.

The exhibition’s title, Gravity, speaks to both the weight and verticality of the sculptures and to Van den Broek’s working process. His canvases are placed on the ground, allowing tar and spray paint to be applied horizontally. Gravity becomes an active force, influencing the movement and layering of materials. On a broader level, Gravity prompts attraction–between materials, forms, and artistic processes. It also alludes to a sense of nostalgia, a pull toward the past that is present in his road imagery, where places and memories intertwine through layers of paint.

With Gravity, van den Broek redefines his relationship with the road, painting, and sculpture, integrating industrial materials and new techniques while continuing his engagement with urban spaces, movement, and his ever-curious perspective.



Artdaily participates in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn commissions by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. When you purchase through our links, we may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. These commissions help us continue curating and sharing the art world’s latest news, stories, and resources with our readers.










Today's News

April 4, 2025

Steve Tobin's steel sculptures take root in the Garment District in the heart of Midtown Manhattan

Tate announces major gift from Jorge M. and Darlene Pérez

Ahlers & Ogletree announces Fine Jewelry, Watches & Luxury Accessories sale, April 24

Exhibition examines Robert Motherwell's gestural style, prolific printmaking, and literary influences

Gagosian exhibits new paintings by Harold Ancart at APMA Cabinet in Seoul

Koen van den Broek's "Gravity" opens at Galerie Ron Mandos, showcasing new paintings and sculptures

S.M.A.K. presents landmark survey of contemporary Belgian painting

Anne Rothenstein's dreamlike paintings on display at Stephen Friedman Gallery

Fortes D'Aloia & Gabriel presents Pélagie Gbaguidi's exploration of history and decolonial perspectives

Antoni Tàpies exhibition in Barcelona connects Avant-Garde art with diverse influences

Dr. Jay Xu to conclude transformative tenure as Director and CEO of the Asian Art Museum

Monumental new paintings by Tim Bavington focus on root notes in solo exhibition

Fondazione Prada presents Thierry De Cordier's "NADA," exploring the grandeur of nothingness

Weatherspoon Art Museum receives naming gift for the Warmath Commons

Amanda Means' "Glass + Light" exhibition opens at Dolby Chadwick Gallery, redefining photography

Gagosian presents Julie Curtiss's first solo exhibition in Paris

The Reba W. & Dave H. Williams Collection of Color Woodcuts at Swann April 15

Controversial Varanasi photos by Michael von Graffenried revisited in Paris exhibition

Lisa Long departs from Julia Stoschek Foundation to start curatorial agency

Taoyuan International Art Award presents 2025 winners

Yuan Goang-Ming brings Venice Biennale triumph to Asian Art Museum in first North American solo exhibition

Zhanna Kadyrova, winner of the Her Art Prize




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
(52 8110667640)

Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez
Writer: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful