For the first solo exhibition of Daan Gielis (1988–2023), "U'll be fine", Keteleer Gallery turns its gaze to a striking and telling part of his oeuvre: the neon sculptures. Although Gielis worked with a wide range of materials and techniques, his neons form a recurring and meaningful element within his body of work, acting as visual anchor points in a layered artistic practice.

Daan Gielis was a Belgian artist whose poetic and deeply personal practice explored the tensions between vulnerability and resilience, desire and disillusionment, individuality and connection. With roots in hardcore punk and shaped by living with a chronic illness, Gielis developed a unique visual language—often using neon, sculpture, and installation—to express the emotional contradictions and social paradoxes of contemporary life.

Image:
Daan Gielis
Happy Marie, 2021
Neon
93 x 102 x 6 cm
Edition of 3 plus 2 artist's proofs

Artists: Daan Gielis