Gallery FIFTY ONE is delighted to announce the fourth solo exhibition of Belgian artist Katrien De Blauwer (Ronse, 1969). For ‘He Loves Me… He Loves Me Not,’ De Blauwer sought an intriguing correspondence between old and new works. The result sketches a tender portrait of the past and invites the viewer to indulge in nostalgic longing.
The extensive archive of notebooks and photomontages, created by De Blauwer since her studies at the Antwerp Fashion Academy, forms the starting point for this exhibition. These are collected image- and text fragments from vintage magazines, books, and newspapers, which, just like a photographer, she cuts and reframes into organic and random compositions. Guided by her own emotions, she intuitively glues, assembles, creases, and folds the fragments together with other visual material to create expressive and refined works. This creative cleaving into reality, supported by the resilience of chance and the power of choice, results in anonymous image fragments that are far removed from their original meaning. Like shadows of their former selves, they are universal and recognisable, yet at the same time, autobiographically charged with the emotions and memories of the artist.

Artists: Katrien De Blauwer