WORK
It is all about man’s quest for tranquillity, aestheticism, for “being” instead of “doing”, for confirmation and structure in our life. Erwin Van den Brande’s images intend to derive the reality of its context and thus render it timeless. He portrays reality as he experiences it, not as he or we see it. This allows him to distance himself from the actual world and society. The images aim to create an idyll and a utopia: a space for reflection, contemplation, and tranquillity—a stimulus to daydream. The common thread through his work is nostalgia, with which he connects the “past” to the “present”. This nostalgia is emphasized both thematically and formally. For example, by reusing existing images, desaturating colors, playing with focus, and highlighting elements from the past.  Digital collages complete this by using the various aspects of a topic in one image. Erwin Van den Brande’s images have a clear and defined line, are abstract, and focus on the essence. 
With their vast aesthetic appeal, Erwin Van den Brande’s images want to take the spectator on a journey of reflection and contemplation. His work is described as universal, timeless, yet modern and refined. His imagery entices the observer, allowing the observer to dwell upon the image, without infringing on the aesthetics. 

BIO
At the early age of 17 years old, Erwin Van den Brande was already a photographer. Like many 70’s youths, he was confronted with the budding medium that was photography. Like so many others, he discovered the joys of having his dark room. Albeit in those days, his areas of interest were typically rock concerts and holiday photography, he was awarded various prizes. In that respect, Erwin Van den Brande was ranked 2nd during the Procter & Gamble International competition for best “Dreft” advert and he won a photography competition about old buildings in Mechelen by entering a photo collage. During a lengthy period, for various reasons, photography was placed on the back burner. More than 2 decades later photography was taken up again and Erwin Van den Brande enrolled himself in a photography school in Antwerp. He was subsequently, once again, captivated by photography and found inspiration from contemporary international photographers. He was very quickly discovered by several art galleries and he had interesting articles in different magazines. In the most recent years, he exposed his work at more than 17 exhibitions in different cities like Brussels, Antwerp, Knokke, Mechelen, Spa, Amsterdam, Zandvoort, London, Milaan, and Hong Kong. These successes motivated him to say goodbye to his job and partnership in an international company and to focus 100% on art and photography.
The future of photography mainly interests him: how will photography evolve in the coming years, and what will be the impact of digital processing, AI, and Meta Data? How will other art forms affect photography? Additionally, questions about aesthetics: what makes a photograph attractive, how do other cultures in other countries view photography? Erwin Van den Brande continuously works on different collections. As an artist, he doesn’t want to be locked into a particular box. It is the benefit of an artist to retain his freedom and not to be imposed on rules.
EXPOSITIONS
Gallery Axel Pairon                  Knokke, Belgium                                    Summer 2011
Black Lamb Expo                     Mechelen, Belgium                                September 2011
Gallery Axel Pairon                  Antwerp, Belgium                                  November 2011
Eurantica                                    Brussels, Belgium                                   March 2012
Gallery Laraven                         Amsterdam, The Netherlands            June 2012
Art Expo KBC Bank                  Antwerp, Belgium                                  July 2012
Gallery Laraven                         Zandvoort, The Netherlands               August 2012           
Gallery Axel Pairon                   Knokke, Belgium                                    July-August 2012
Antica Namur                            Namur, Belgium                                     November 2012
Hong Kong Art Fair                  Hong Kong                                               Marc 2013
Vogelsang Art Gallery              Brussel, Belgium                                     June 2013
Gallery Azur                                Spa, Belgium                                           2012-13
Hotel Radisson Blu                   Spa, Belgium                                            Summer 2013
Noah                                             Kasterlee, Belgium                                 2012-13
Onsitegallery                              Brasschaat, Belgium                              September 2013
Art Fair Amsterdam                  Amsterdam, The Netherlands            October 2013
Bricklane Gallery                       London, UK                                              February 2014
Art-beI BNP Paribas Fortis     Kortrijk, Belgium                                     March 2014
Royal Academy Antwerp        Antwerp, Belgium                                  June 2014
Vogelsang Art Gallery              Brussels, Belgium                                   September 2014
NOAH goes Art                          Kasterlee, Belgium                                 Nov-Dec 2014
Perspectives by Abbvie            Vienna, Austria                                       February 2015
Jelmoni Gallery                          Milan, Italy                                               February 2015
Different Perspectives ‘15        Antwerp, Belgium                                 June 2015
Process by Multitude                Antwerp, Belgium                                 Sep-Oct 2015
Perspectives by Abbvie             Barcelona, Spain                                   December 2015
Cunina Expo                               Antwerp, Belgium                                 January 2016
Different Perspectives ‘16        Antwerp, Belgium                                 June 2016
PhotoEvent16                              Mechelen, Belgium                              June-August 2016
Aston Martin                               Antwerp, Belgium                                 October 2016
In Residence                               Knokke, Belgium                                    December 2016
Art School Gent                          Gent, Belgium                                         December 2016
Think Jazzy Art Gallery            Antwerp, Belgium                                 June - August 2017
Summer of Wechel                   Wechelerzande, Belgium                     August 2017
Think Jazzy Art Gallery            Antwerp, Belgium                                 May 2018
REBILD Yugen Art                     Ghent, Belgium                                      June 2018
Epoke Design Studio                 Antwerp, Belgium                                 November 2019
Gallery Jean                                 Antwerp, Belgium                                 July-August 2019
KunstxBunch                               Brasschaat                                               2022
R-Photography                            Fenzou, China                                       2022
Beyond Gallery                            Antwerpen Belgium                             2023
Atelier/studio of artist               Antwerp, Belgium                                 Permanent
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