Bendt Eyckermans

Bendt Eyckermans is a talented Belgian artist who creates paintings depicting everyday scenes from his own life.

Biography of Bendt Eyckermans

Bendt Eyckermans was born in 1994 into a family of sculptors. He completed his studies in painting at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp in 2016. The artist harbored a deep passion for the world of cinema since he was young and always wanted to be a filmmaker. Growing up, he was captivated by the stories of directors who had backgrounds in painting and how film influenced their approach to lighting and composition. Intrigued by the idea of following a similar path, he blended his family's sculpting legacy into the cinematic practice of visual storytelling.

Eyckermans' works have been showcased at institutions such as the M HKA, Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp; the Art Festival Watou; S.M.A.K., Ghent; MUDEL Deinze, and Vlaamse Gemeenschap. Eyckermans is represented by prestigious art galleries across the globe. Gallery Sofie Van de Velde, located in Antwerp, continues to support and showcase his works in his hometown. Additionally, he is represented by Carlos/Ishikawa in London and Andrew Kreps Gallery in New York City.

Bendt Eyckermans' Art Style

In Eyckermans' art, his figures seem to exist in a suspended state, frozen in mid-action, evoking a sense of drama through skillfully employing strong shadows and cinematic lighting. His creative process starts with photographs and then moves to sketching in pencil before painting. Imperfection and concealment are crucial aspects of his artistic practice. Eyckermans' paintings are not mere representations of reality but rather an outpouring of expression and partial representation, aimed at provoking thought and eliciting responses from the viewer.

Bendt creates rich "vignettes," depicting gold half-sculptures and busts held by his friends, who adopt theatrical poses to draw attention to these enigmatic objects. Through his artistic practice, Eyckermans seeks to breathe new life into dormant motifs, reanimating the essence of the past and refreshing their significance using a new medium and atmosphere. The use of gold in his paintings adds a sense of majesty to the statues. These golden elements become totems or directorial props that structure the movements of the characters.

Eyckermans's fascination with theatricality is rooted in the history of European painting. He draws inspiration from artists like James Ensor and René Magritte. Another important touchstone is Max Beckmann, whose crowded scenes of acrobats, actors, and clowns—both on and off the stage—resonate with him. In Eyckermans' paintings, however, the faces of his subjects often remain obscured, leaving room for interpretation and projection. 

His paintings strike a contrast between their narrative ambiguity and everyday nature, as they mostly depict everyday scenes from the painter's own life. All the characters in his paintings are friends, whom he frequently invites to pose in various stances, either alone or with others.