Joke Raes
°1983, Bruges, Belgium.
Lives and works in Ghent, Belgium.
Joke Raes draws, lasers, knits, moulds, assembles, and sculpts botanical and fantastic forms with an exuberant amount of detail. With an almost obsessive interest in the surface of her works, Raes blends nature with culture with her works being the result of an intriguing exchange or cross-pollination. However, simultaneously, this story of efflorescence and a complex symbiosis is also a story of decay, resistance, or stagnation. A visual and material spectacle, with an ambiguous undercurrent.
Selected exhibitions:
Her works have been exhibited nationally and internationally in multiple exhibitions: ’11 Coming people SMAK, ’12 Amazon Forest PER, Red Sea EGY, ’13 Vanhaerents Art Collection BE, ‘15 Biennial Contemporary Art Moscow RUS, ‘17 Az Alma Eeklo, ‘19 Cultural center Destelheide Belgium, ’18 Van Abbemuseum NL, Creative residency Arita Japan, Tokyo Belgium embassy, Kyoto Art center JP, Museum Dhondt Dhaenens, Gallery, deMijlpaal, Cwart BE, ‘19 The White house gallery BE, ‘20 Poortersloge BE, ’21 DMW gallery, ‘22 Franzis Engels Gallery NL, SMAK BE