Simon Bultynck Recasts Historical Landscape Paintings in Bronze at CONVENT, Ghent

Key facts

• Simon Bultynck's exhibition A. Aubry, A. Colin, P. Lippens, A. Oosterlinck, C. Wynants runs from 25 September to 25 October 2026 at CONVENT Space for Contemporary Art in Ghent, Belgium.
• Bultynck, born in 1992, reworks historical landscape paintings by five painters into bronze, removing their pictorial surfaces.
• Acids used on fragments of Colin's work have left traces on an easel and the floor; a ceramic evaporator with stand oil, dammar resin, and cedar-vetiver extract fills the room with the smell of oil paint.
• The exhibition also includes a bronze sheet draped over an oak sawhorse, two flat works on the floor, and two pieces in the courtyard.
• Louis De Mey wrote the exhibition text as a letter to the artist, dated 26.03.2026 and 15.09.2026, asking what Bultynck takes away from the paintings.
• De Mey characterizes the works as both tender homages and radical iconoclasm, proposing a récit autorisé from the artist's authorial position.
• The trestle and easel reference precedents such as Carlo Scarpa and evoke a surreal studio situation, with acid traces that appear staged.
• CONVENT is a non-profit space at Tennisbaanstraat 74, BE-9000 Ghent, open Friday and Sunday 1–5 p.m. or by appointment, focusing on international contemporary art.