Stijn de Pourcq
°1976, Ronse
Lives and works in Ronse, Belgium.
His work consists of mixed media sculptures primarily using animal materials: skeletons, mummified animals, and bodies that are sometimes processed and deformed. At times sacred, at times playful, at times macabre. It can be described as an unconventional form of taxidermy, in which he allows the body to partially decompose, dry, and skeletonize. He sees beauty in death and turns it into his working material. Sometimes he presents it in all its simplicity; other times he reshapes it into something new.
A large part of his practice involves a slow process of acquiring and preparing materials. Collecting, cleaning, and preserving can take months or even years. He continuously develops these techniques further. Preservation and experimentation go hand in hand for him; death is a process he never seeks to fully control.
Whether he starts from the material itself or is the kind of maker who translates an idea into a sculpture is not always clear. What is clear is that a dialogue with the material begins afterward. It is a process in which he seeks contrast, experiments, spends time with it, leaves it, and returns to it. In retrospect, that process is no longer accessible—the memory of it disappears as if it never existed.
Recurring themes include the fragility of life, the desire for detachment and independence, and the imprisonment of the individual within his emotions, relationships, careers, belief systems, and materialism.
In addition, he observes a polarizing world in which cohesion and connection are in decline. This is especially reflected in his most recent work. He brings together dozens or hundreds of similar or related bones, small animals, vertebrae, or ribs into a three-dimensional form. What emerges is a tension between the organic, the geometric, and the strength of the collective. Precision and dedication become almost a form of resistance.
Selected exhibitions:
Group exhibitions:
2025, Microkosmos, Drents Museum, Assen (NL)
2025, Compleet van de KAART, Zwijgershoek, collaboration between WARP & CC Sint-Niklaas, Sint-Niklaas (BE)
2025, De Rampe, Kwaremont (BE)
2025, Etalageproject K1 & K2, WARP, Sint-Niklaas (BE)
2025, Prijs van de Makers, Sint-Annakasteel, Maldegem (BE)
2025, Zeedrift, Noir de Noir Concept Gallery, Ostend (BE)
2025, Pabulum, Leroy Brewery, Watou (BE)
2025, ALLES WORDT NIETS, Noir de Noir Concept Gallery, Ostend (BE)
2025, Kunstsalon, De Campagne, Drongen (BE)
2025, Kunstenal, Het Pannenhuis, Bruges (BE)
2025, Zomersalon: Buy Local, Kunsthal, Ghent (BE)
2025, Waterwegen, Leieproject, Ghent (BE)
2025, Art Weekend, House of Art, Sint-Jozefskliniek, Bruges (BE)
2024, Prijs van de Makers, Sint-Annakasteel, Maldegem (BE)
2024, Tortilla Flat, M12, Ronse (BE)
2024, Urban Blue VI, Kasteel Borluut, Sint-Denijs-Westrem (BE)
2024, Group Show, Noir de Noir Concept Gallery, Ostend (BE)
2024, Tr4ns/Form, CAS, Zottegem (BE)
2024, Spectrum, Ronse (BE)
2024, Get Out of Your Skull, Belgium–Netherlands
2024, House of Art, Bruges (BE)
2024, RAAM 103, Ghent (BE)
2024, Afsprong, Afsnee (BE)
2023, Eskapismus, Shame Brussels Gallery, Brussels (BE)
2023, RAAM103ext. “Close-Encounters”, Kwaremont (BE)
2023, Kunst in het Dorp, Bellingen (BE)
2023, Passage, K.L.8 Exhibition Space, Brussels (BE)
2023, T.R.I.P., Huis van de Mens, Ronse (BE)
2023, Kunstsalon, Landgoed De Campagne, Drongen (BE)
2023, AAP – Artistiek Actueel Platform, Cultuurhuis, Ninove (BE)
2023, Zuurstof, Zele (BE)
2022, ART GHENT Waregem – A Total Performance, Stedelijke Kunstacademie, Waregem (BE)
2022, Every Summer Has a Story #6, De Casino, Sint-Niklaas (BE)
2022, Fay-Art Groepsexpo #3, Kasteel Fayard, Bruges (BE)
2022, Kunstroute Drongen, Cultuurplatform, Drongen (BE)
2022, Kunstgalerie De Rode Loper & Kunst Nu, De Oude Post, Zele (BE)
2022, Kunst doorDrongen, Kapel Petit, Drongen (BE)
2022, Het Kabinet der Verhankelijkgeit, Kasteeltje Lysbrugstraat, Ingelmunster (BE)
2021, Binnenwerk, Ghent (BE)
2021, Expo Hangar14 Revisited, Scherpenheuvel (BE)
2021, Fabels, Herkenrode Abdij, Hasselt (BE)
2021, OFFSPACE, Ghent (BE)
2021, Community Exhibition, Subbacultcha, Antwerp Art Weekend, Antwerp (BE)
2021, Opening Exhibition, Kunstgalerie De Rode Loper, Zele (BE)
2021, Verbondenheid, Turnhout (BE)
2021, Deur naar de Zomer, Sint-Niklaas (BE)