Portrait of my father as a horseshoe bat

Galerie Valerie Bach is pleased to present Douglas White's first solo exhibition in Brussels. The gallery had already presented the work of this English artist during the collective exhibition "Force of Nature" in 2016 under the curating of James Putnam and then on his stand at the Drawing Now Contemporary Drawing Now in Paris (March 2017).

Douglas White graduated from the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art (2000) and the Royal College of Art in London (2005). His work has been exhibited in United Kingdom but also in Europe, United States and South America. His work is part of many collections: David Roberts Art Foundation, Saatchi Collection, Frank Cohen, Cass Sculpture Foundation…
Known for his evocative use of objects and materials found, it collects the detritus of our society to transform them, compulsively, into singular sculptures, often monumental. Driven by a fascination with scrapped or forgotten materials and the ability to "find something magical in everyday life"; his practice is intuitive. He assembles elements as diverse as tires of trucks burst, cactus half disintegrated. With extreme transformations he reveals materials’ unexpected surfaces and structures.

This exhibition, entitled "Portraits of my Father as a Horseshoe Bat", brings together several series: such as bats reconstituted from dried bananas and false furs. An intimate and personal reflection of the artist on mourning. An ox emerges from a pile of cactus pieces, owls appear on the surface of a light box and octopuses leave their imprint on blotting paper. Like an alchemist, the artist transforms the found objects to give them a new form, a new life and the spectator can only marvel at his ingenuity.