Artist Natasja Mabesoone created an immersive environment for the entrance of Art Brussels (Gallery Sofie Van de Velde, Antwerp). Photo: Martin Pilette for Bureau Rouge
At this year’s slightly contracted Art Brussels, the welcome began before the booths. At the entrance, by the ticketing and information desks, Natasja Mabesoone’s site-specific commission Cher mouths Mary, Mary mouths Cher set the tone. Presented with Gallery Sofie Van de Velde (Antwerp), the work wrapped the arrival zone in pinkish wallpaper and a language of glittered makeup and coded femininity. It turned the fair’s self-contained world into a tongue-in-cheek stage propelled by desire, while exposing the mechanics that shape the art spectacle.
Inside Hall 5, Observer met managing director Nele Verhaeren, whose enthusiasm matched the room. “More than 500 artists are shown at the fair, the majority of them living, with an important proportion of women,” she said. The fair’s 42nd edition attracted 139 galleries from 26 countries—65 percent of which were returning participants—and the preview and subsequent days felt steady, with Belgian collectors joined by visitors from neighboring countries and gallerists reporting plenty of sales to younger buyers. “We have a redesigned layout that offers a clearer and more engaging journey, at a slower pace.”
Among the five sections, “Prime” was the largest, with 83 galleries mounting booths of modern and contemporary masters alongside established names. Belgian galleries from Mendes Wood DM and Xavier Hufkens to Almine Rech and Galerie Greta Meert made a strong showing. Tim Van Laere Gallery, based in Antwerp and Rome, stood out, pairing Rinus Van de Velde’s poetic charcoal drawings with Dennis Tyfus’s commanding Two Head Dog. Nearby, Brussels-local Sorry We’re Closed brought a surprise: a totemic ceramic sculpture by Senegalese artist Seyni Awa Camara, who died last January.
Jannis Varelas, Le Chevalier du Sommeil, 2025. Oil, pure pigment, dry pastel and gesso on canvas, 180 x 180 cm. Photo courtesy Galerie Krinzinger (Vienna)
But it was the returning exhibitors that really gave the event its international pulse. “We’re glad to be back after some years of absence,” said Thomas Krinzinger of Galerie Krinzinger out of Vienna. “Brussels is an ideal meeting point for collectors.” His booth featured new paintings by Greek artist Jannis Varelas on the transformation of the self with references to fashion, as well as photographs from iconic performances of Marina Abramović. Romero Paprocki (out of Paris and Milan) featured refined steel pieces by the emerging Franco-Italian artist Matisse Mesnil, whose first Art Brussels presentation echoed the formal logic of his current solo exhibition “Sutura” at the gallery, treating seriality with cool discipline. This generational focus was visible across the fair: 28 percent of participation was dedicated to young contemporary positions, and 25 percent of represented artists were under 40.
Solo projects were dispersed throughout, presenting concentrated statements made by individual artists. rodolphe janssen (Brussels) presented intimate and theatrical paintings by Patrizio di Massimo in which he appears with his partner Nicoletta, wandering through monuments in Italy and the U.K. NEWCHILD (Antwerp) centered on Xi’an Kim’s “A Small Theatre Inside the Home” project that has deepened her approach to still life through everyday objects set within an idealized emptiness.
Lazy Mike (Seoul) showed an impressive installation by U.S. artist Willie Stewart, featuring what he calls his “image-objects.” Courtesy the gallery
Lawrence Calver created an enveloping environment for the stand of De Brock (Knokke). He does not use paint but builds from textiles (sails, jute duffel bags, money bags, military clothing and French bed linen) found at flea markets or during travels. “At 33 years old, Calver is one of the youngest artists in our program,” Bertram De Brock told Observer. “His work is extremely rich and mature and has been exhibited in London, New York and Los Angeles over the past three years.” Prices ranged between €20,000 and €35,000. Lazy Mike gallery (Seoul and Riga) created a similar atmosphere with their display of Willie Stewart, whose recent works sit between painting and immersive display, using rural Americana and subcultural fragments as a symbolic vocabulary.
Rooted in the fair’s own history, “’68 Forward” highlights galleries exploring movements that have shaped contemporary art since 1968, the founding year of Art Brussels. It looks to established figures and also artists who have stayed outside the main spotlight. This year’s prize went to Einspach & Czapolai Fine Art (Budapest), representing Orshi Drozdik, whose feminist research brings together performance, printmaking and drawing.
“Discovery” served as the platform for emerging international talent via solo shows and curated dialogues. Some entries were compelling, though the section as a whole could have allowed for bolder choices. House of Chappaz (Barcelona) was one of the few to foreground the moving image, with a video installation by Mexico City-based Andrew Roberts, who examines power structures through gameplay and horror. MONITOR and Matèria, both linked to Rome, shared a booth hung with Francisca Valador’s life-size still lifes in oil on stainless steel and Thomas Braida’s sly feline portraits.
Kasper De Vos, represented by Pizza Gallery (Antwerp, Ghent), was one of the winners of the Discovery Acquisition Prize. Courtesy the gallery
The Discovery Acquisition Prize, which funds up to €10,000 for an artwork destined for a museum collection, recognized Kasper De Vos, represented by Pizza Gallery (Antwerp, Ghent), whose sculptures channel folklore; Lena Marie Emrich of OFFICE IMPART (Berlin); and Alejandra Caicedo at Tom Reichstein (Hamburg), whose almost sold-out booth addressed Afro-Latin American migration and identity. The Ixelles Museum will unveil these acquisitions in March 2027 for its reopening.
“Horizons,” the brand-new section for large-scale projects beyond the booth, was curated by Devrim Bayar, senior curator at KANAL-Centre Pompidou, which will open in November 2026 with 10 exhibitions spanning art and architecture. Seven monumental works by eight galleries formed a scenographic parcours designed for experimentation, affirming the fair’s commitment to elaborate production under museum-quality conditions. Bayar told Observer that the section gave participants freedom to fully deploy their proposals where ambition meets the scale of the artistic gesture. Despite the variety of practices, “certain echoes emerge between the works, particularly around revisited architectural motifs,” she added.
Highlights were easy to find. Zuzanna Czebatul’s T-Kollaps, presented by sans titre (Paris), reimagined classical columns as transparent ruins in polyethylene, shifting marble’s authority into something unstable. The installation hovered between an inflated playground and a speculative archaeological site. Aglaia Konrad’s Frauenzimmer with NADJA VILENNE (Liège) used free-standing glass windows from the Brodski/Lambrichs CBR building in Brussels, mirroring visitors as they passed by. Elen Braga’s Elen ou Hubris, proposed by Wouters Gallery (Brussels), stretched across 24 meters of hand-tufted tapestry showing the artist in a catsuit lifting a weight.
Elen Braga, Elen or Hubris, 2020. Shown by Wouters Gallery. The monumental tapestry first hung on the Triumphal Arch in Parc du Cinquantenaire, Brussels (2020) replacing the Belgian flag for one day. Photo: Martin Pilette for Bureau Rouge
A practical addition with a caring touch, the “Art Advisory Desk” offered complimentary 45-minute sessions for newcomers buying their first artwork. It connected people with gallerists and offered tailored advice for both occasional buyers and seasoned collectors.
Special projects extended the program. “Not Everything is for Sale” at the Stibbe Lounge asked 15 Belgian gallerists with over 25 years of activity: which artwork would they never part with, and why? Daniel Templon, six decades in, picked a 1973 Andy Warhol portrait of legendary dealer Leo Castelli, widely credited with originating the contemporary gallery system. The KickCancer Collection returned for a fourth year with “Small Art with a Big Heart,” activated by tastemaker Albert Baronian. Original compact works donated by participating galleries were sold anonymously at €400, with proceeds going to the Belgian foundation and its mission to cure every child with cancer. The artist’s name was revealed only after purchase.
Andy Warhol, Portrait of Leo, 1973. Acrylic and silkscreen on canvas, 102,5 x 102,5 cm. Photo © Laurent Edeline
Beyond the halls, the fair’s VIP and OFF program opened Brussels’ private collections and institutions. A hidden gem was “Is That All There Is?” at Cloud Seven, drawn from the Collection of Frédéric de Goldschmidt. Among many other works, the top floor hosted a cast body by Antony Gormley, evoking vulnerability and ecstasy, a self-portrait by David Wojnarowicz, a powerful Paradise photograph by Tacita Dean and Joël Andrianomearisoa’s gin bottle titled Antidote for a Sentimental Solitude. The selection caught the exhibition’s appeal: polished and generous, with curiosity intact.
Art Brussels was singularly upbeat this year and delivered a confident, well-paced edition. The slower flow mentioned by Verhaeren worked to the dealers’ advantage. Younger collectors turned up. “Horizons” gave the fair real institutional weight while the smaller initiatives lent it heart. Brussels remains a quietly essential stop on the European art calendar.
Intimate new paintings by Italian artist Patrizio di Massimo at rodolphe janssen (Brussels). Photo: Hugard & Vanoverschelde
More in Art Fairs, Biennials and Triennials