(ENG)

We are pleased to present British artist Ben Edmunds (UK, 1994) with a solo project at this edition of Art Antwerp, The presentation is a follow-up on 'Private Collection Selected by’ for which Edmunds made a selection from the private collection of Joost & Siska Vanhaerents-Dezutter, also known through their active involvement in the famous Vanhaerents Art Collection. Edmunds selected works by amongst others Korakrit Arunanondcha, Matthew Barney, Buckminster Fuller, Andres Serrano & Helmut Stallaerts bringing them into a dialogue with a selection of his own recent works.

Best known for his large scale paintings that combine tropes of modernist abstraction with the stylised accents of adventure sports, the practice of Ben Edmunds moves between painting, branding, photography & sculpture. Through the lens of Abstract Expressionism and Colour Field, in which painting sought to become a transcendental experience, his work can be seen as an updated modernism, a search for the meaning in a contemporary context of fashions and trends, self-help literature and outdoor brands. Growing up in rural England, Edmunds was surrounded by a culture of extreme sports. He draws on this personal history of sailing, windsurfing and cycling to explore the transcendental parallel between abstract painting and adventure sports. To the artist, these sports offer an escape, an urge to go beyond the known boundaries of geography and the body. Questioning the assumed anti-utilitarianism of abstract painting, the artist proposes to examine the function of painting as equipment.

Ben Edmunds (UK, 1994) lives and works in London (UK). Edmunds has taken part in solo & group exhibitions at L21, Barcelona (ES) JARILAGER, Cologne (DE), Simulacra, Beijing (CH), Anex PTG, Berlin (DE), Tatjana Pieters, Ghent (BE), THE SHOPHOUSE, Hong Kong (HK), Copperfield, London (UK), Asia Art Center, Taipei (TW), Choi&Lager, Seoul (KR), Kaikai Kiki, Tokyo (JP), Danysz, Shanghai (CN), JPS, Paris (FR), Galleria Patricia Armocida, Milan (2019); Mall Galleries, London (2019), Pierre Poulet, Bordeaux (2018), Rizzuto, Palermo (2018) and Courtauld Institute of Art, London (2018), Lost Horizons’, Noble Studios, London (2017); ‘Kick Off’, Carousel, London (2017).. Edmunds’ work is in several private collections in Europe, Asia and the US. Ben Edmunds is represented by Tatjana Pieters, Ghent (BE).

December 11-14, 2025 / ART ANTWERP / Ben Edmunds