1968-1997

Born in Sint-Niklaas, Belgium, in 1968, Ilse D’Hollander graduated from the Hoger Instituut voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp, in 1988, and the Hoger Instituut voor Beeldende Kunsten, St Lucas, Gent, in 1991. D’Hollander drew upon her impressions and experience of place throughout her career, particularly the Flemish countryside where she spent the last, highly productive years of her life. Occasionally her work recalls lowland vistas – with vast horizons that belie an intimate scale. However, D’Hollander’s paintings are seldom straightforward landscapes. Instead, drawing the viewer in, her work reveals a masterful command of graphic and painterly touch that captures, holds and, often, diverts attention. Monochrome or near monochrome fields might be interrupted by blocks of colour; geometric volumes that read as natural or manmade interventions. These in turn might be punctuated by streaks or strokes of paint – applied with a brush or sometimes the artist’s hands. The results can be read as a series of accumulated impressions, adjustments and layerings – visual records of the artist’s thought processes as much as evocations of the landscapes she knew and loved. It is this sense of crossing and re-crossing the border between outer and inner, actual and symbolic worlds, the eye and the mind, that gives D’Hollander’s work its unique presence and invites prolonged consideration. It stands as a testament to the concentrated act of painting and the, equally concentrated, act of looking.D’Hollander committed suicide in 1997, at the age of 28. 

During her lifetime, a solo exhibition was held at In Den Bouw, Kalken, in 1996. Posthumous solo exhibitions have been held at White House Gallery, Leuven (2017); ADAA The Art Show, presented by Sean Kelly Gallery, New York (2017); Sean Kelly Gallery, New York (2016); FRAC Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand (2016); Konrad Fischer Galerie, Berlin (2014); Sofie Van de Velde Gallery, Antwerp (2014); M Museum, Leuven (2013); Geukens & De Vil, Antwerp (2010); Lucas De Bruycker Gallery, Ghent (2004). Her work has been included in the group exhibitions EDIFICE, COMPLEX, VISIONARY, STRUCTURE, Sean Kelly, New York (2018); Artemisia, Galerie Albert Baronian, Brussels (2017); In the Picture, Galerie Sofie Van de Velde, Antwerp (2017); Geometric Abstractions, G262 Sofie Van De Velde Gallery, Antwerp (2015); Works on Paper, David Zwirner Gallery, New York (2014); Konrad Fischer Galerie, Düsseldorf (2013); Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Deurle, Belgium (2009); Stille Schilders, Caermersklooster, Gent (2003; cat); Aula Art, Ghent (1996); Urmel Gallery, Gent (1994). Works by Ilse D’Hollander are in various international collections including Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Deurle, Belgium and FRAC Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand, France.