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Art gallery in the heart of Brussels with a cultural club and course-conferences linked to each exhibition

Portraits International is a new triple art gallery bookstore in the centre of Brussels dedicated to the world of portraiture to connect and inspire through art.  A unique selection of biographies, lectures, master classes and corporate team building is linked to the exhibitions: the art, the artist and the lives and works of the subjects portrayed

 

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« ADHD – Pool of thoughts » by Klara Rusan Klarxy
28 March > 28 April
at Portraits International (Rue des Dominicains 16/18)

This exhibition presents the works of Klara Rusan a.k.a « Klarxy » which narrate a story of a brain affected by ADHD.

These drawings will tell you about the formation of thoughts in ADHD conditions, how intrusive thoughts arise from the disorder that disrupts regular thoughts, and what it’s like to navigate through education in such conditions…

The artist’s starting point for this project is her personal experience – a few years ago, when her friends asked her about her thought process, she illustrated it by using the motif of a large Olympic swimming pool (representing the brain) crowded with swimmers (representing different thoughts). Upon receiving the official diagnosis of her condition, she decided to start a large, potentially lifelong art project using the same motif as its point of departure.

The exhibition was designed with the idea of its continuous expansion at the forefront. The artist started with pencil drawings and illustrations done in ink and white acrylic, leaving open the eventual possibility of transition to digital illustration, graphics, or painting.

Her works range from smaller formats to others covering whole walls, all in the spirit of ADHD, creating a multi-faced and dynamic omnibus of different experiences and stories.
During the exhibition visitors will also be able to see older works, prints and her graphic novel ‘Where Do People Go After They Die?’.

« Exhibiting a playful horror vacui, her works possess a strong magnetic attraction. She plays on the border of comics, illustrations, and nightmares, simultaneously childlike and dead serious.  Her works are filled with hundreds, thousands, millions of details, the little things in which you can recognise yourself and which seem like a part of your everyday life, but cleverly distorted in a way to achieve the most important thing in all of art – to help you see the world around you in a new way, to notice something new in what you have seen countless times, and to remind you that things are rarely as they seem. Once you dive in the authors thought pool, once you step into her brain and walk around her apartment, chances are you will not want to leave. « 
Andrija Škare, from the exhibition catalogue. 

Cette exposition présente les œuvres de Klara Rusan (Klarxy), racontant l’histoire d’un cerveau affecté par le TDAH.

Ces dessins montrent la formation de pensées dans des conditions de TDAH, l’apparition de pensées intrusives découlant de troubles perturbant les pensées régulières, et les conséquences d’évoluer dans le monde de l’éducation dans de telles conditions…

Le point de départ de l’artiste pour ce projet est son expérience personnelle – il y a quelques années, lorsque ses amis lui ont demandé comment fonctionnait son processus de réflexion. Elle l’a illustré en utilisant le motif d’une grande piscine olympique (représentant le cerveau) bondée de nageurs (représentant différentes pensées).

L’exposition est conçue avec l’idée de son expansion continue en tête. L’artiste a commencée avec des dessins au crayon et des illustrations réalisées à l’encre et à l’acrylique blanche, passant finalement à l’illustration numérique, aux graphiques et à la peinture. Les œuvres vont des petits formats à ceux couvrant des murs entiers, tous dans l’esprit du TDAH, créant un omnibus multifacette et dynamique d’expériences et d’histoires différentes.

« Exhibant une horreur vacui ludique, ses œuvres possèdent une forte attraction magnétique. Elle joue sur la frontière des bandes dessinées, des illustrations et des cauchemars, à la fois enfantine et sérieuse. Ses œuvres sont remplies de centaines, de milliers, de millions de détails. Ces petites choses dans lesquelles vous pouvez vous reconnaître et qui semblent faire partie de votre vie quotidienne, mais habilement déformées pour atteindre la chose la plus importante en art. Comme vous aider à voir le monde autour de vous d’une nouvelle manière, à remarquer quelque chose de nouveau dans ce que vous avez vu d’innombrables fois, et à vous rappeler que les choses sont rarement ce qu’elles semblent. Une fois que vous plongez dans la piscine de pensées de l’auteur, une fois que vous entrez dans son cerveau et que vous vous promenez dans son appartement, il y a de fortes chances que vous ne vouliez plus partir.)»
-Andrija Škare, du catalogue de l’exposition

CALL TO ARTISTS, WRITERS & FILM MAKERS

Ukrainian Portraits, past and present 29 March > 29 July

A group exhibition of Ukrainian artists featuring works by Olexandr Bohomazov, cubo-futurist born 1880 near Kharliv and 9 contemporary artists, including the hyper realistic watercolourist, Ievgen Petrov born 1972 in Kherson. Portraits of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy by Toon Teeken, Carlos Becerraand others will be displayed in our gallery and auctioned online worldwide during six weeks. We will donate 100% of the profit from the auction and 15% of the sales of all artworks sold during the exhibition to support UNHCR humanitarian relief and the Takshtab charity which directly supports internally displaced mothers and children under 3 in collaboration with the Tsekh Gallery in Kiev and the James Butterwick Gallery, London. James Butterwick has been collecting European and Ukrainian fine art since 1985. Fine art prints from his TEFAF 2022 collection of works by Oleksandr Bohomazov will also be for sale.

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january, 2025

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Opening Hours

gallery & bookshop
Thursday - Saturday: 11 AM - 8 PM
Sunday : 2 PM - 6 PM
' Salon du dimanche' from 4 PM
academy
Monday - Wednesday: 11 AM - 8 PM
Galerie des princes 2
Rue des Dominicains 16-18
gallery & bookshop
Thursday - Saturday: 11 AM - 7 PM
Sunday : 2 PM - 6 PM
' Salon du dimanche' from 4 PM
academy
Monday - Wednesday: 11 AM - 7 PM
Galerie des princes 2
Rue des Dominicains 16-18

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FOR ALL ENQUIRIES OR TO COMMISSION A PORTRAIT OR BIOGRAPHY PLEASE CALL +32 472 70 85 13 OR SEND US AN EMAIL USING THE FORM