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)

 

 

2020	BOYS! BOYS! BOYS!	Online Show	boysboysboys.org by The Little Black Gallery
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

 

2021	Interview / Portfolio	Chris Random	FACTS Zine #16 Summer 21
	Feature on Shadows of Doubt	Ben Sabo	PNPPL Zine
	My soulmate (interview) Cedric Jacquemyn	Dmitry Komissarenko	NVRMIND PAPER #13, Ukrain
	The Ghost of Avant-Garde (book)	Adriana Lacko	A8 Visual Communication Design, Zagreb
	Come Clean, pt 1	Chris Phillips	PORNCEPTUAL, Berlin, Germany
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