Since the mid-1980s, Dirk Braeckman has developed an impressive oeuvre consisting of photography, and more recently video. Encountering images from his daily surroundings by chance, Braeckman’s large scale grey shaded works suggest rather than explain. They offer a window into an unidentified reality: distant seascapes, deserted ballrooms, billowing curtains, antique wallpaper, or a blurred image of a nude. Atmosphere, cropping, light and texture are given central place in Braeckman’s poetic work.
Braeckman’s darkroom functions like a painter’s studio; an area for experimentation where the artist allows freedom, spontaneity and time to influence his creative process. Using tools and techniques to manipulate the negatives, the resulting works possess a tactility rarely seen in photography. Braeckman’s painterly approach stretches the limits of the medium. According to Braeckman, photography is the most subjective experience there is. Far from telling the truth, the medium offers a boundless illusion.
Dirk Braeckman studied photography and film at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent (BE) from 1977 to 1981. Braeckman has taken part in numerous exhibitions including The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Fort Worth, TX (US); BOZAR, Brussels (BE); S.M.A.K., Ghent (BE); Fotohof, Salzburg (AT); Museum De Pont, Tilburg (NL); Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin (DE); Museu de Arte Moderna, Rio de Janeiro (BR); Whitechapel Gallery, London (UK); WIELS, Brussels (BE) and Museum M, Leuven (BE). In 2017, Braeckman represented Belgium at the 57th Venice Biennale (IT).
Braeckman’s work is included in many institutional and important private collections such as The Museum of Modern Art, New York, (US), Artothèque, Annecy (FR); Belgacom Art, Brussels (BE); Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris (FR); Centraal Museum, Utrecht (NL); Centre National des Arts Plastiques, Paris (FR); Centro de Fotografia de la Universidad, Salamanca (ES); Fondation nationale d’art contemporain, Paris (FR); Frac Nord-Pas de Calais, Dunkirk (FR); Frac Rhône-Alpes, Villeurbanne (FR); Kunstmuseum, The Hague (NL); M HKA, Antwerp (BE); MAC’s Grand-Hornu, Hornu (BE); Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris (FR); Ministère de la Communauté française, Brussels (BE); Ministerie van de Vlaamse Gemeenschap, Brussels (BE); Musée Niépce, Chalon-sur-Saône (FR); Musée de la Photographie, Charleroi (BE); Musée d’Art Contemporain et Moderne, Strasbourg (FR); Mu.ZEE, Ostend (BE); Philadelphia Museum of Art (US); De Pont, Museum voor hedendaagse kunst, Tilburg (NL); Provinciaal Museum voor Fotografie, Antwerp (BE); Royal Palace, Brussels (BE); Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Brussels (BE); Sammlung Goetz, Munich (DE); Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst S.M.A.K., Ghent (BE).
GRIMM represents the artist in collaboration with Zeno X Gallery in Antwerp (BE) and Galerie Thomas Fischer in Berlin (DE).
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Dirk Braeckman
Dirk Braeckman - Léon Spilliaert: Night Wanderers 12 Oct 2024 - 19 Jan 2025 Kunstmuseum, The Hague (NL) -
Dirk Braeckman
LUSTER./ 20 Jan - 26 Feb 2022 GRIMM 54 White St, New York, NY (US) -
Condition Humaine
29 Oct - 4 Dec 2021 GRIMM 54 White St, New York, NY (US) -
Someone said that the world's a stage
Curated by Margot Samel 1 Jul - 6 Aug 2021 GRIMM 54 White St, New York, NY (US) -
54 White Street | Inaugural exhibition
GRIMM's new gallery in Tribeca 20 Mar - 17 Apr 2021 GRIMM 54 White St, New York, NY (US)Join us in March 2021 for the grand opening of GRIMM's new space in Tribeca at 54 White Street. For more further information, please email info@grimmgallery.comRead more
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De bedwelmende dubbelexpositie ‘Nachtdieren’ toont de rijkdom van het donker (In Dutch)
Stefan Kuiper, De Volkskrant, December 1, 2024 -
Revealing and hiding: a glimpse into the darkroom of Dirk Braeckman
Flor Linckens, Unseen Amsterdam, July 18, 2023 -
Expo Dirk Braeckman: het gevoel van een opgevulde leegte
Koen Van Boxem, De Tijd, March 3, 2023 -
A pas de deux of dark worlds
Geert Van der Speeten, De Standaard, March 3, 2023 -
Dirk Braeckman GRIMM | NEW YORK
Jeffrey Kastner, Artforum, April 1, 2022 -
Journey to Far Horizons and Distant Landscapes with Dirk Braeckman
Ravi Ghosh, Elephant, February 8, 2022 -
Grimm : Dirk Braeckman : Luster./
Jean-Jacques Naude, The Eye of Photography, January 21, 2022 -
Dirk Braeckman: LUSTER./
Ayla Angelos, Port, January 21, 2022 -
VUB reikt eredoctoraat uit aan fotografen Stephan Vanfleteren en Dirk Braeckman
De Morgen, June 21, 2021 -
Dirk Braeckman: Capturing Quietness
In Conversation with Tessa Moldan, Ocula, March 10, 2021 -
A Recreation of the Visible: On Luminosity and Composition in Braeckman’s Project for the Royal Palace
Stefan Hertmans, Dirk Braeckman: Chiaroscuro, Imschoot Uitgevers, Ghent, 2003 -
DIRK BRAECKMAN DOUBLE EXHIBITION
GUP Magazine -
GRIMM represents Dirk Braeckman in New York
December 8, 2020 -
‘Focus: Dirk Braeckman’ Review: Searching the Darkness for Meaning
Williem Meyers, The Wall Street Journal, February 4, 2019 -
Tableaux of Drawn-out Time, a Conversation between Dirk Braeckman and Eva Wittocx
Eva Wittocx, Koenig Books, September 12, 2017 -
The Loneliness of the Darkroom (on Dirk Braeckman)
Wilco Versteeg, Blog, May 20, 2017 -
Dirk Braeckman’s Bewitching Display for Venice Biennale
Charmaine Li, AnOther Magazine, May 11, 2017 -
Dirk Braeckman opens his solo exhibition in the Belgian Pavilion at the 57th Venice Biennale
Veerle Ausloos, M - Museum Leuven, May 9, 2017 -
Dirk Braeckman Will Represent Belgium at the 57th Venice Biennale
Amah-Rose Abrams, ArtNet News, December 30, 2013 -
Zarina Bhimji and Dirk Braeckman
De Appel Arts Center, March 13, 2013
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ECHTZEIT
Dirk Braeckman 2024240 mm x 300 mm, 240 pagesRead more
Publisher: HOPPER&FUCHS
ISBN: 9789464002331
Dimensions: 240 mm x 300 mm -
Évidences possibles
Dirk Braeckman 2023 Read more -
LUSTER./
Dirk Braeckman Published by GRIMM on the occasion of "LUSTER./", the artist's first solo exhibition with the gallery at its New York location. Design: Simon Bultynck, 2022Hard cover with linen, 88 pagesRead more
Publisher: GRIMM Amsterdam (NL)
ISBN: ISBN 98-90-831888-5-0
Dimensions: 216 x 145 mm | 85 1/8 x 57 1/8 in
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Dirk Braeckman to present a solo exhibition 'Echtzeit' at FOMU, Antwerp (BE)
April 1, 2024FOMU in Antwerp will present Echtzeit , a solo exhibition by Dirk Braeckman opening on Saturday 29 March, marking the artist’s first series of works...Read more -
"Évidences possibles" at FRAC Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand
Dirk Braeckman July 25, 2023Dirk Braeckman's photographs are vibrations of tones delicately contained between the absolute blackness of a charcoal dusting and the radiant whiteness of flashes of lamps,...Read more -
"U.M.-V.P.-16" (2016) by Dirk Braeckman acquired by the Museum of Modern Art, New York
The Museum of Modern Art, New York. The Photography Council Fund. June 8, 2022GRIMM is pleased to announce the recent acquisition of Dirk Braeckman's U.M.-V.P.-16 (2016) by the Museum of Modern Art, New York, which was made possible...Read more