A little story about charcoal and the underdog – about Rinus Van de Velde and Koenraad Dedobbeleer – and simply crossing the street

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People often ask what motivates me to keep on doing it: spending my weekends visiting galleries and my weekday mornings writing about the shows. Last Saturday reminded me of one of the answers to that question, on my way back from Antwerp, after having seen two shows: Rinus Van de Velde at Tim Van Laere and Koenraad Dedobbeleer at Micheline Szwajcer (both through October 19). It’s about trying to make people cross the street.

Rinus Van de Velde at Tim Van Laere (through October 19) is one of the must-see shows at the moment. Every newspaper, every magazine has written extensively about the bright young Belgian artist, excelling in large black-and-white charcoal drawings. With effect: the gallery was crowded. Not just the hip art crowd, but older people too and families with young children, who had parked their bikes in front of the gallery.
I had postponed my trip to Tim Van Laere a couple of weeks, as I wanted to combine it with a visit to the show of another interesting Belgian artist, Koenraad Dedobbeleer at Micheline Szwajcer (through October 19), opening later. Tim Van Laere was crowded. Szwajcer – right across the street – was empty. And it stayed empty.
It goes without saying: Van De Velde’s work is pleasing; it’s easy to see the craftmanship involved and the beauty of it. Whereas no matter how long you stare at Dedobbeleer’s work, it will always elude you. It will always stay enigmatic. And is a big rock in a gallery a work of art? Or that extra bronze doorknob, or that lamp on the desk of the gallerist?
I’m not implying one is better than the other. I’m not judging. It’s just that I will always be rooting for the underdog. That’s why I keep on writing. Hoping that my enthusiasm can motivate people to make that extra effort. Hoping to make at least someone cross the street.

You’ll find more images of the works and installation views of both shows on the websites of the galleries: Tim Van Laere, here and Micheline Szwajcer, here.