In the desert
I saw a creature, naked, bestial,
Who, squatting upon the ground,
Held his heart in his hands,
And ate of it.
I said, “Is it good, friend?”
“It is bitter—bitter,” he answered;
“But I like it
“Because it is bitter,
“And because it is my heart.”
– Stephen Crane, 1895
Gerda Van Damme is an nomad. Her roots are in Dendermonde, her heart in Wallonia. She currently has her studio in Charleroi, in the "la ville haute" district, where excavators are busy creating Charleroi DC (District Créatif). She works there with artists from the region, in the collective "Grosses Lacunes" and with her husband Guido Janssens in "The Muybridge Collective".
Gerda is active in different media (installations, video, sculptures), but it is mainly with her paintings that she is - this year alone! - a finalist this year in 4 art competitions (including the prestigious international Arte Laguna Prize) and exhibits in Venice (Arsenal), Berlin, Brooklyn, Ostend, Nivelles and Charleroi.
Current exhibitions
Midsummerdaydream
Group show, 1|7 - 27|8
Galerie Papillon, Oostende.
Opening 1|7, 4pm.
Also works by Karen Farkas, Siegfried Vynck, Sylvia Konior, Guido Janssens, Henriëtte van Gasteren, Pascal Berthoud, Clément Jacques-Vossen, Roel Stels, Marc Galle, Dany Tulkens, Eric Luc Maquet, Frédéric Fontenoy, Joël Person, K. von Klingenberg and Frederik Rombach.
For exhibition proposals, or if you are interested in the acquisition of an artwork or an artwork in commission, you can contact Gerda Van Damme at gerdavandamme@gmail.com or through the contact page.