The Antwerp Art scene is deeply moved by the news of Daan Gielis' passing on May 2, 2023. Daan was a tireless artist, whose multimedial practice always contained the bittersweetness many of us are feeling now. He was a great contributor to the art scene throughout Antwerp, and he will be greatly missed.

Antwerp Art would like to extend its condolences to Daan's loved ones.

Join us in honoring Daan Gielis' work during the Antwerp Art Weekend.

In 'Wilting Flowers' (2022), whithering flowers shine brightly in gorgeous neon colors. These flowers are in between two worlds: they are no longer blooming, but they are not yet dead. Gielis based the composition on seventeenth-century woodcuts from the archives of the Plantin-Moretus Museum in Antwerp. At the time, the desire to register the natural environment led to modern botany; but it also caused the tulip mania, the first major financial bubble. Gielis places these historical facts in a contemporary context, in which we are struggling with an unprecedented loss of biodiversity and an ecological crisis. (Text by Bram Ieven)

'Wilting Flowers' (2022) can be visited at any time during the Antwerp Art Weekend. Scan the QR code outside of the fence, and light up the bouquet. You can find the installation here. The address is Eugeen Meeusstraat 89, 2170 Antwerp.

'Wilting Flower (#2)', a smaller neon work by Gielis, is included in Flowers at Room Temperature, our central exhibition at De Studio, Maarschalk Gerardstraat 4, 2000 Antwerp. You can find his work on the first floor.