Karen Hendrickx

Karen Hendrickx is GlogauAIR resident
from July, 2023 to September, 2023

Karen Hendrickx, is a visual artist based in Antwerp, Belgium. Since 2017, she has delved into a captivating series exploring the beauty of dance and movement. Together with choreographer Justine Copette, Karen crafted “Sketches of Emotion,” a performance merging dance and visual art. Expression is at the core of Karen’s work. Her artistic process blurs the line between abstraction and figuration.

Meet the Artist

How did your artistic journey begin?

There is not really a beginning. I have always been drawing and painting even since I was a child. I can’t remember a life without art. It is like it has always been there and it will always be there. It is a way of living for me, painting and drawing. When I was younger, I remember a lot of children playing outside. Instead of being outside I created my own atelier and I think I spent the whole summer there.

How would you describe your practice as an artist?

Painting is for me a real expression of my feelings. It’s a real feeling. I really feel that I need to express something. So, my emotions are in my paintings and in my drawings. It is about survival and the paintings are my personal way to survive.

What inspires you to create your art?

It’s my way of expressing my emotions, and not an inspiration that comes first to me and then I will start painting. I think there is a real need inside me.

What influenced your decision to come to GlogauAIR ?

I found out about the space during the corona time. But then it was complicated with corona but afterwards I was still thinking, okay, now I’m up to go to a residency. And then I thought again about GlogauAIR and I thought about Berlin. Berlin is a great city to be in. So, I knew the space already and then it felt like it was meant to be.

Does the city of Berlin have an influence on your production?

I can see the dark feeling of the city. It’s still present and it’s really connected to my feelings. That’s why the city has helped me, because I feel that I’m really touched by Berlin. And then I started thinking about the history and it’s not the nicest time in history, but there are so many lives in the city, and I almost cry when I see parts of the wall, I even didn’t exist in that period. But I can feel the pain of the people living in this time and how they dealt with it. Also, with the impact of the Second World War of course. And then it makes the feeling stronger to start painting and express it. So, in this way I would say yes.

Statement

Karen Hendrickx is a visual artist who lives and works in Antwerp/Belgium. Since 2017 she has been working on a series on dance and movement for which she has created the performance Sketches of Emotion together with the Belgian choreographer and dancer Justine Copette of JC Choreography. This performance aims to be a mix between dance and visual art, inviting the audience to come and see how a dance performance is transformed into a timeless work of art.

Expression is always central to her work. She always try to intensify her subject, instead of literally mirroring it. While working Karen always try to look for the boundary between the abstract and the figurative. Her choice of materials is very diverse, ranging from charcoal, chalk, Chinese ink, bistre, acrylic to oil paint. While working, the work is constantly changing and every previous track contributes to the end result. In this way Karen try to search for the story that can be told through a line, composition, color shade, atmosphere, …Karen also like to work in an investigative, experimental way, where she like to try out other disciplines.

Karen Hendrickx

Instagram

GlogauAIR Project

During my residency, I will work on my dance and movement series, where I will look for the dance movement in the city of Berlin. I want to be inspired by the rhythm of the city and the traces left behind through its history. Among other things I want to look for the rhythm, in the architectural lines and surfaces, in the movements of the people who comes and go, in the sound that the city produce,… I want to translate all this into lyrical abstract works.

In addition to my studio work, I will also collaborate with the Belgian choreographer and dancer Justine Copette on an adapted version of our performance Sketches of Emotion. The intention is to integrate this performance into the project that I want to develop.

CV Summary

Education

June 2017 : Graduated in the specialization degree drawing of the part-time art education at the Royal Academy of Antwerp.
June 2011 : Graduated in the higher degree of painting from the part-time art education at the Sint Lucas academy in Kapellen.
June 2006 : Graduated in art history at the art historical institute of Antwerp

Exhibitions

August 2022 Exhibition. and performance at Tour à Plomb, Brussels
July 2022 Exhibition an Performance in Bruges
May 2022 Exhibition and performance at VZW Fameus, Antwerp.
April 2022 Exhibition and performance at VZW Ensemble, Ghent.
November 2021 Exhibition and performance at Bal D’Art gallery, Brussels
September 2021 : Exhibition and performance at ’t Werkhuys, Antwerp
Exhibition during We.Art.XL, Elsene
July – September 2021 : Exhibition in Maison La Poste / Tour and Taxis and Gare Maritime, Brussels
March 2021 : Selected for Act-Exhibition, Brussels
January 2020 : Group exhibition in galerie Verbeeck-Van Dyck , Antwerp
September 2018 : Open studio days: Studio Start, Antwerp
April 2015 : Solo exhibition in Tracé culture station, Ekeren/Antwerp

Art competitions

August 2021 : Shortlist of the Visual Art Open 2021 UK & International Emerging Artists Awards
January 2021 finalist of the 10th “All women” Art Exhibition
All Women Art Exhibition
August 2020 : finalist of the Starvd Art Competition 2020
May 2020 : Selected with the movie ‘Sketches of Emotion’ for the Wake UP! Memorial : Wake Up!
May 2020: Selected with the movie ‘Sketches of Emotion’ for the positive energy art festival : Positive Energy Art Festival
April 2020 : Selected with the movie ‘Sketches of Emotion’ for the socialdistancingfestival 2020 Social Distancing Festival

Performances

April 2023 : performance and workshop during the day of dance, Geraardsbergen
August 2022 : Performance at Tour à Plomb, Brussels
July 2022 : Performance, Ghent
June 2022 : Performance, Brussels
May 2022 : Performance at VZW Fameus, Antwerp
April 2022 : Performance at VZW Ensemble, Gent
September 2021 : Performance during the exhibition ‘Terrain Vague’, Antwerp
Performance during Dap festival, Rotterdam
Performance and exhibition in ‘See U’ during We.ART.XL, Elsene
Performance at ‘t Werkhuys, Antwerp
August 2021 : Exhibition and performance at Gare Maritim in Tour and Taxis, Brussels
August 2021 : performance and exhibition at Allee du Kaai, Brussels
June 2021 Performance at La Vallée, Brussels
April 2021 : Performance during Act Exhibition, Brussels
December 2020 : creation of an online performance : Online Performance
August 2020 : Try out of the performance ‘Sketches of Emotion’ at Van Buuren Solidaire at the gardens of the museum van Buuren, Ukkel/Brussels
April 2020 : participation at the online edition of the day of dance with the movie ‘Sketches of Emotion’ : Day of Dance