Biography
Yves De Brabander, the Antwerp-based photographer and filmmaker whose training and initial achievements in fine art photography have more recently been complimented by a growing reputation as a fashion photographer.
Even in his initial bodies of work he often introduced vehemently sensual subject matter. Yet, the erotic is often shown as coexisting side-by-side with its own self-conscious reflection. In the particular staging and through odd domestic or other elements introduced into his images there is something that seems to be pointing us in the direction of recognising that the erotic fundamentally remains an unrealisable idea; that in trying to realise the ultimate image of the erotic, there is always some element of the realisation that will forever draw the reality back into the realm of Readers Wives. Sexuality may be normative and normalised and yet, simultaneously, this is what divorces it from the entirely cerebral form of excitement that seemingly simple images can produce.
Neither his fashion nor non-fashion works are easily placed into a single category. Drawing on art history, erotic traditions or the iconography of other media forms – such as cinema- they often have a narrative aspect built into their manifestation without ever being transparently illustrative or suggesting a singular reading.
In both his fashion photography and the works that exist more in the realm of photography as an artistic medium, there is a certain framing and tone that is cinematic. This is not surprising given that film often seems to inform his work, readily seen in fashion stories with titles such as ‘French Movies’. But, this is less in the sense of either being a means of reconstructing imagery from recognisable films or using the fashion shoot as a storytelling device – a photo-roman with good clothes – both of which approaches are now familiar territory within fashion’s canon. Rather there is something in Yves De Brabander’s work in which it is not that which is fully explained that is important but rather that which is not that forms a central part of its communication, operating at times, exactly like the kind of French cinema to which the title of a particular fashion series refers.
His work has been shown internationally in leading galleries and both his fashion and art photography has been published in leading international publications.
In 2011 & 2012 his contemporary interpretation of Saint-Sebastian travelled the world and was shown during the provocative group exhibition exploring the evolving interpretation of St. Sebastian from the Renaissance
to the present. ", anchored by Titian's portrait from c. 1530, at both Art Basel Miami Beach (2011) and Edelman's Gallery NYC (2012)
(words by Ken Pratt, Trajector Art)
"A Belgian photographer that likes to capture emotion, honesty, and grit in his minimalist photos."
(Albert Smith - The Advocate, LA)
Exhibitions
2018 | Geworfenheit | Solo Show | Cedric Jacquemyn showroom, Paris |
2017 | Shadows of Liberty | Solo Show | Cedric Jacquemyn showroom, Paris |
2016 | Here is no Border only Dust | Solo Show | Cedric Jacquemyn showroom, Paris |
2014 | Antwerp Art | Group Show | Ra Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium |
2012 | Plains of native Rites | Video Installation | Cedric Jacquemyn showroom, Paris |
Up against it | Groupshow | Munch Gallery, NYC, USA | |
The Almanac of the old Fish | Solo Show | Ra Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium | |
Muted Beliefs | Solo Show | Cedric Jacquemyn showroom, Paris | |
Night | Groupshow | Munch Gallery, NYC, USA | |
Antwerp Art | Groupshow | WM Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium | |
Saint-Sebastian 1530-2011 | Groupshow | Edelman Arts Gallery, NYC, USA | |
2011 | Saint-Sebastian 1530-2011 | Groupshow | Art Miami, Miami Beach, USA |
CUM by Stuart Sandford | Groupshow | VZ Gallery, London, UK | |
To: Japan /Love, New York | Groupshow/Auction | Munch Gallery, NYC, USA | |
Trajector Art Fair | Groupshow | TAUT, Brussels, Belgum | |
ENTER #1 | Groupshow | Munch Gallery, NYC, USA | |
Until the End | Video | ASVOFF, Paris, France | |
Until the End | Video | Glashaus, Berlin, Germany | |
Art 'n Bloom | Groupshow | Modo Bruxellae, Brussels, Belgium | |
2010 | Instant. Fearless Project #2 | Groupshow | La Petite Mort Gallery, Ottawa, Canada |
The Last Glacier (Cedric Jacquemyn) | Solo Show | Glazen Huis, Antwerp, Belgium | |
Instant. Fearless Project #1 | Groupshow | Robert Goff Gallery, NYC, USA | |
2008 | Ecce Homo | Solo Show | Galeria Pauza, Cracow, Poland |
2007 | Yves De Brabander (screening) | Solo Show | Barinn, Reykjavik, Iceland |
2005 | Accident at the Gym | Solo Show | Popi Café, Antwerp, Belgium |
2004 | Visions, Contemp. Male Photography | Groupshow | Bruno's, Berlin, Germany |
"From Antwerp comes the minimalistic dormant boyroticism of photographer Yves de Brabander (…)
his goal through photography is to uncover an emotional
momentum-snap of the model's inner
feelings
through he channels through the style of the American snapshot-photographers in an updated and
contemporary aesthetic."
(Justin Violini - Fearless, NY)
Interviews & Publications
2015 | Art & Religion in the 21st Centry | Dr. Aaron Rosen | Thames & Hudson |
2012 | Works june 2012 | MUNCH Gallery NYC Catalogue 2 | |
2011 | Modern Eros, Yves De Brabander | Gene Ku Chin | PPaper Fashon, TW/CN |
Works december 2011 | MUNCH Gallery NYC Catalogue 1 | ||
2010 | Picture This | DNA Magazine, Australia | |
Editorial of the Month | Ken Pratt | Other Edition Publishers, UK | |
Antwerp, dec 1947 | Client Magazine, UK | ||
Spotlight: Yves De Brabander | Albert Smith | The Advocate, Los Angeles, USA | |
French Movies | Show/Off Magazine, Belgium | ||
Artist Profile Yves De Brabander | Justin Violini | Fearless Project, NYC, USA | |
Anvers, Fev 1947 | Pref Magazine, France | ||
Yves De Brabander funky trasy si de vis | RGN, Romania | ||
In the Spotlight Yves De Brabander | Homo Neurotic, USA | ||
Cedric Jacquemyn & Yves De Brabander | Ninja Art Magazine, France | ||
2008 | interview on Ecce Homo Cracow | Tomas De Soete | Studio Brussel, Belgium (radio) |
Ecce Homo works | Karolina Harazim | Galeria Pauza Catalogue 2008 | |
Ecce Homo Projekt Zrealizowali | FOTO, Poland | ||
Krakow Gazeta | |||
Spotkanie z autorami Ecce Homo kochac | SwiatObrazu, Poland | ||
Ekscentryczne Ecce Homo | MM, Poland | ||
2007 | Les Mysterieuses | Pref Magazine, France | |
Naked Ambitions, Yves De Brabander | Global Art Exhibit #2, USA | ||
This is a Man's World | Luc Peeters | de FOTOgraaf, Amsterdam | |
2006 | De man van Yves De Brabander | Thijs Demeulemeester | Knack Weekend, Belgium |
Visions | Maenner Aktuell, Germany | ||
Visions Contemp Male Photography | Bruno Gmuender Verlag | ||
2005 | Man fotografeert man | Elle Magazine, Belgium | |
2004 | De Dromer, Yves De Brabander | Zone03, Belgium | |