Nel Aerts
Slippery Wobbler
The Existential Excursion of Slippery Wobbler & Friends
In we go, through the three-headed gateway leading us into this inescapable heartbreaker’s story. Our Slippery Wobbler once again finds herself in the last resort of this peepshow like existence we all enjoy so much. A true trailblazer, she embarks upon many trauma truckers and dazed roamers, going all the way down to no one’s town.
After wasting away for years, she tries a little self-reflection. The oracle, however, takes a rather gloomy view on the future, advising her to step into the whirlwind of the village idiot and the esoteric eyeballer in the next painting.
There she goes, downhill in high spirits, wobble doodle, wobble doodle, to the barhopper and her magic carpet. Upon arrival, she finds nothing but layers of dried-out, scratched-in, peeled-off paint crust. She joins forces with every tireless night floater she encounters, under the assumption that together they will have the best hunter’s nose of all time.
Holding on for dear life and planning their own feigned suicide, she however is given the inevitable green wink from the fortune teller who shows her the way to Euphoria Lane, where she treats herself to some more hallucination. She plays a game of four in a row with another phantom, sizzling in the fat of her final calling.
The phantom, the fortune teller and the Slippery Wobbler go into the next life as respectable tree hangers and plague my little phoney together.
Farewell old chaps, till the next one!
– Nel Aerts
Preview
15th February, 5-8pm
Dates
16th February – 23rd August 2020
Installation Views
Nel Aerts: Installation View
Nel Aerts: Installation View
Nel Aerts: Installation View
Nel Aerts: Installation View
Nel Aerts: Installation View
Nel Aerts: Installation View, Carl Freedman Gallery Margate, 2020
Nel Aerts: Installation View
Nel Aerts: Installation View
Selected Works
Nel Aerts
All the Way Down to No One’s Town (2020)
Acrylic on wood
51.5 x 38.5 cm (20.28 x 15.16 in)
All the Way Down to No One’s Town (2020)
Acrylic on wood
51.5 x 38.5 cm (20.28 x 15.16 in)
Nel Aerts
All the Way Down to No One’s Town (2020)
Acrylic on wood
51.5 x 38.5 cm (20.28 x 15.16 in)
Nel Aerts
My Little Phoney (2015 - 2020)
Pyrography on paper on wood, acrylic, filler, ecoline, oil sticks and spray paint in artist-made
frame
62.5 x 46 cm (24.61 x 18.11 in)
My Little Phoney (2015 – 2020)
Pyrography on paper on wood, acrylic, filler, ecoline, oil sticks and spray paint in artist-made
frame
62.5 x 46 cm (24.61 x 18.11 in)
Nel Aerts
My Little Phoney (2015 - 2020)
Pyrography on paper on wood, acrylic, filler, ecoline, oil sticks and spray paint in artist-made
frame
62.5 x 46 cm (24.61 x 18.11 in)
Nel Aerts
A Cringeworthy Slippery Wobbler (2020)
Acrylic on wood
86 x 61 cm (33.86 x 24.02 in)
A Cringeworthy Slippery Wobbler (2020)
Acrylic on wood
86 x 61 cm (33.86 x 24.02 in)
Nel Aerts
A Cringeworthy Slippery Wobbler (2020)
Acrylic on wood
86 x 61 cm (33.86 x 24.02 in)
Nel Aerts
Farewell Old Champ (Between Euphoria and Hallucination) (2015 - 2019)
Acrylic, filler and colouring pencil on wood in artist-made frame
125 x 97 cm (49.21 x 38.19 in)
Farewell Old Champ (Between Euphoria and Hallucination) (2015 – 2019)
Acrylic, filler and colouring pencil on wood in artist-made frame
125 x 97 cm (49.21 x 38.19 in)
Nel Aerts
Farewell Old Champ (Between Euphoria and Hallucination) (2015 - 2019)
Acrylic, filler and colouring pencil on wood in artist-made frame
125 x 97 cm (49.21 x 38.19 in)
Nel Aerts
Het orakel schat de toekomst somber in (2020)
Paper, varnish, acrylic, graphite and ecoline on canvas
120.5 x 100 cm (47.44 x 39.37 in)
Het orakel schat de toekomst somber in (2020)
Paper, varnish, acrylic, graphite and ecoline on canvas
120.5 x 100 cm (47.44 x 39.37 in)
Nel Aerts
Het orakel schat de toekomst somber in (2020)
Paper, varnish, acrylic, graphite and ecoline on canvas
120.5 x 100 cm (47.44 x 39.37 in)
Nel Aerts
The Three-Headed Gateway (2015 - 2019)
Acrylic, pastel, filler on wood in artist-made frame
125.5 x 98.5 cm (49.41 x 38.78 in)
The Three-Headed Gateway (2015 – 2019)
Acrylic, pastel, filler on wood in artist-made frame
125.5 x 98.5 cm (49.41 x 38.78 in)
Nel Aerts
The Three-Headed Gateway (2015 - 2019)
Acrylic, pastel, filler on wood in artist-made frame
125.5 x 98.5 cm (49.41 x 38.78 in)
Nel Aerts
Four in a Row (2020)
Acrylic, oil sticks, spray paint and graphite on wood in artist-made frame
125 x 98 cm (49.21 x 38.58 in)
Four in a Row (2020)
Acrylic, oil sticks, spray paint and graphite on wood in artist-made frame
125 x 98 cm (49.21 x 38.58 in)
Nel Aerts
Four in a Row (2020)
Acrylic, oil sticks, spray paint and graphite on wood in artist-made frame
125 x 98 cm (49.21 x 38.58 in)
Nel Aerts
Peepshow Artist (2020)
Acrylic, spray paint and pastel on wood
102 x 90 cm (40.16 x 35.43 in)
Peepshow Artist (2020)
Acrylic, spray paint and pastel on wood
102 x 90 cm (40.16 x 35.43 in)
Nel Aerts
Peepshow Artist (2020)
Acrylic, spray paint and pastel on wood
102 x 90 cm (40.16 x 35.43 in)
Nel Aerts
Self-Reflection after Wasting One’s Self Away (2020)
Acrylic, paper, spray paint, sequins on canvas
140.5 x 190 cm (55.31 x 74.80 in)
Self-Reflection after Wasting One’s Self Away (2020)
Acrylic, paper, spray paint, sequins on canvas
140.5 x 190 cm (55.31 x 74.80 in)
Nel Aerts
Self-Reflection after Wasting One’s Self Away (2020)
Acrylic, paper, spray paint, sequins on canvas
140.5 x 190 cm (55.31 x 74.80 in)
Nel Aerts
Four in a Row (2020)
Acrylic, oil sticks, spray paint and graphite on wood in artist-made frame
125 x 98 cm (49.21 x 38.58 in)
Four in a Row (2020)
Acrylic, oil sticks, spray paint and graphite on wood in artist-made frame
125 x 98 cm (49.21 x 38.58 in)
Nel Aerts
Four in a Row (2020)
Acrylic, oil sticks, spray paint and graphite on wood in artist-made frame
125 x 98 cm (49.21 x 38.58 in)
Nel Aerts
Peepshow Artist (2020)
Acrylic, spray paint and pastel on wood
102 x 90 cm (40.16 x 35.43 in)
Peepshow Artist (2020)
Acrylic, spray paint and pastel on wood
102 x 90 cm (40.16 x 35.43 in)
Nel Aerts
Peepshow Artist (2020)
Acrylic, spray paint and pastel on wood
102 x 90 cm (40.16 x 35.43 in)
Nel Aerts
Self-Reflection after Wasting One’s Self Away (2020)
Acrylic, paper, spray paint, sequins on canvas
140.5 x 190 cm (55.31 x 74.80 in)
Self-Reflection after Wasting One’s Self Away (2020)
Acrylic, paper, spray paint, sequins on canvas
140.5 x 190 cm (55.31 x 74.80 in)
Nel Aerts
Self-Reflection after Wasting One’s Self Away (2020)
Acrylic, paper, spray paint, sequins on canvas
140.5 x 190 cm (55.31 x 74.80 in)
About
Nel Aerts’ practice combines painting, sculpture, drawing, collages, performance and film. Her often figurative work is populated by tragi-comic figures that she renders in simple lines and large blocks of colour. These characters, which appear across diverse media, function like masks that the artist uses intentionally to reveal or to conceal her own persona.
Nel Aerts (b. 1987) studied at Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent (KASK) from 2005-2009. She lives and works in Antwerp, Belgium. Recent museum exhibitions include Museum M, Leuven (2019), Westfälischer Kunstverein, Münster (2018), Kunsthalle Lingen, Lingen (2018) and Warande, Turnhout (2017). Recent solo exhibitions include Nino Meir, Los Angeles (Forthcoming, May 2020), Plus One, Antwerp (2018), Horizont Gallery, Budapest (2016); Vincent van GoghHuis Galerie, Zundert; KIOSK, Ghent (2015); Castillo/Corrales, Paris (2014); Galleri Specta, Copenhagen (2014); Frankendael Foundation, Amsterdam (2013) and Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen (2013). Group shows include Barbara Gladstone, Brussels (2017), De Bond, Brugge (2017); MuHKA, Antwerp (2016); Astrup Fearnley Museet, Oslo (2014); Kunsthal Kade, Amersfoort (2014); Junior Projects, New York (2014); Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna (2013); Be-Part, Waregem (2013); WIELS, Brussels, (2012); Kunstraum, London (2012); De Garage, Mechelen (2011) and S.M.A.K., Ghent (2009)