Hello, I’m Elien Ronse (she/her) and I would call myself a visual artist very often socially engaging in different contexts.
I grew up in a West-Flemish village in Belgium and learnt to see the world from this perspective. Which I guess is a good thing to know, that the origins of my look-on-the-world are starting there and affect the way I’m making artworks. Throughout the years I’m trying to question the frameworks from my past and present, while also appreciating the care and love that I can feel anywhere.
For a while the only thing I wanted to do was making paintings, until I was confronted with isolation in the studio and neoliberal functionings of the artworld (which in fact is not one but many). Slowly I started to change directions as a maker. And these changes are still ongoing and unpredictable.
Nowadays I would say I’m focusing on relational mechanisms in ‘our’ late-capitalist society. I’m interested in how we relate to each other: the habits, complexities, banalities and love within (less-normative) relations. Often we can find macro-political mechanisms at work within micro-situations, e.g. sexism, classism, racism,... But there is also resistance towards these mechanisms through everyday behaviors, e.g. support of friends, verbal responses in public space, sharing experiences, creation of safer spaces,... With my practice I aim to disclose or create destigmatisation within relations and by this tackle power structures emerging from neoliberalism, heteronormativity, eurocentrism and overconsumption.
Relating to this, another concern which is often present in my work, is the crumbling of the welfare state. I’m worried about the dismantling of care and social work. Many care structures have been a given while I was growing up in the 80s-90s-2000s in Belgium. Nowadays we see them being impoverished in a somehow silent and slow way (or loud and fast, depending how you look at it). These human rights have been fought for in often long, violent and difficult struggles. So it’s very important to protect them and keep the fight going. I hope to be a relevant addition with my works to these struggles, so it can be helpful in a certain way for political change.
As the work arises from my direct surroundings, mostly other people are involved in the making processes. Sometimes friends and family, other times unknown others who then can become close. Within this I try to acknowledge our interdependency while struggling with internalised individualism coming forth of the society I am part of. So mostly I work in togetherness; people can become co-creators, public, participants, co-thinkers, colleagues,…sometimes all at the same time, while I aim to acknowledge everyones authorship and say goodbye to the “artist-genius” concept. Also, I've been working together closely with wonderful artist Stijn Van Dorpe in recent years, which has been very refreshing to think and make together.
Anyhow, the work is always starting from the local, from an in-situ situation. Where at first I wanna be present and take up the role as a listener mainly. Later on in the process, depending on what happens, there’s concrete actions being developed. They can take various shapes, it could be a video, a restaurant, candles, flags, conversations, parades,…. just to say the materialization is fully dependent on the needs of a context and tries to be relevant for the people in this surrounding.
With a lot of thanks and love to the many supportive people surrounding me.
Contact
ronseelien@protonmail.com
I have my desk at Van Volxem from Level Five in Brussels
Education
Lumbung Practice, (part-time) with collective Level Five, Temporary masters, Sandberg x De Appel x Gudskul, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2024-2026)
Summer academy AFFECT, ‘Exploring the endotic’, Agoracollective, Berlin, Germany, June 1 - 28 (2015)
Bachelor Teaching, LUCA School of Arts, Ghent, Belgium (2012-2014)
Master Visual arts, LUCA School of Arts, Ghent, Belgium (2005-2007 and 2010-2012)
Bachelor Social-Cultural work, Artevelde, Ghent, Belgium (2007-2010)
Residencies
KAOS & workspacebrussels, developing the work 'Gaan we pingpongen?', Belgium, October-December (2022)
YARAT, Baku, Azerbaijan (postponed)
Kunsthal Gent, developing the work ‘Oh i love you elien’, Belgium, August-April (2021-2022)
workspacebrussels, developing the work ‘A and E’, Belgium, September-February (2021-2022)
Manoeuvre with several projects: G.R.A.S., Kunst en Zwalm, Bring Your Own Beamer, Aaargh, Take Back the Night, KOLEKSIKON, Hoe ga je
me missen, Copy-Center in Nieuw-Gent, Manoeuvre’s (in)visibilities,... Belgium (2019-2021)
Dream Art Institute, in collaboration with Ciprian Burete, WALTER bookstore, Arnhem, The Netherlands, April - June (2019)
De Koer, developing the work ‘What is a tourist doing at home?’, Gent, Belgium, 2017 November 1 - 2018 October 31 (2017-2018)
Zarya - Center for Contemporary art, research about locally made objects, Vladivostok, Russia, April 28 - May 28 (2018)
Digital Art Studios, developing video ‘Design for Everyone’, Belfast, Northern-Ireland, October 10 - December 2 (2016)
Pair, Pier 2 artcenter, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, July 20 - October 20 (2015)
Das Weisse Haus, Vienna, Austria, March 1 - May 1 (2015)
D’CLINIC studios, TRACTOR, Lendava, Slovenia, March 30 - April 28 (2014)
Frans Masereelcentrum, Kasterlee, Belgium, July 2 – July 27 (2012)
Exhibitions and projects (selection)
Dorpsdramaturgie, with Kunstenplatform Plan B and Netwerk Aalst, Aalst, Belgium (2023-2025)
Sociaal Restaurant T'Paviljoentje, Geraardsbergen, Belgium (2024)
Verzamelen Zocalo!, for Leefbuurt Muizen, with Stijn Van Dorpe for Para-Instituut voor KUNST en precariteit, supported by Vlaamse Bouwmeester, Stad Mechelen and LUCA school of Arts, Muizen, Belgium (2023-2024)
Open studio's workspacebrussels, with performance 'In fact, we are a team!? Yeah, yeah' and videowork 'Het staminee in Sint-Alexius in 28 hoofdstukken: Gaan we pingpongen?', Belgium (21-23 April 2023)
'Beste klas 6hz1', making a videowork with a group of future hairdressers, supported by Kunstenaars in de klas and workspacebrussels, Brussels, Belgium (2023)
'Lotto', a project with Common Income in Rue du Croissant, Brussels, Belgium (2023)
'PLOT', an open-air opera on Tondelier construction site, with Para-Instituut voor KUNST en precariteit, Gent, Belgium (18 september 2022)
'In fact, we are a team!? Yeah, yeah', a video-performance about friendships, workspacebrussels and Kunsthal Gent, Belgium (2022)
'I'll be right with you', a video about waiting for Garden of Delights, Kunsthal Gent, Belgium (2022)
‘En van lengte?', with Kunstenplatform Plan B in Stokveldewijk met Uitwijken, Bruges, Belgium (2021)
‘We zeiden ook dat zal wel een bevlieging zijn’, for Para-Instituut voor KUNST en precariteit, with Stijn Van Dorpe and others, in Kunst&Zwalm, Belgium (2021)
‘diksmuide, diksmuide, diksmuide, diksmuide, diksmuide’, video-work, Onverbloemd, Bloemmolens, Diksmuide, Belgium (2021)
‘Holding Space is a Work of Art’, with collective Garden of Delights, online performance and video, BLANCO, Gent, Belgium (2021)
'Mossy Wet Old', with Francesca Hawker and Lea Rüegg, for A Voice Message Project, Brussels, Belgium (2021)
‘Cultureel Centrum Truck Stop’, with Does Vandousselaere and others, relational work and installations on highway-parking, Gentbrugge, Belgium (2020-2021)
'Onderweg Camping Oxygene', with Manoeuvre and Does Vandousselaere, Konnektor Residency, Gouvernement, Ghent, Belgium (2020)
'The Broken Heart Hotel', installation and hotel, THIS PLAY, Ghent, Belgium (2020)
'Nacht van de MELODI lamp', performative action, walk walk walk #2 by Croxhapox, Ghent, Belgium (19 October 2019)
'Have you spotted a MELODI lamp? Send a photo and streetname to +32496890681', BLANCO Hoogpoort, Ghent, Belgium (2019)
'Taart in de brievenbus', installation 'What do you think about swapping lives for one day?' and performance 'A and E', Ghent, Belgium (2019)
‘Holding hands from afar', with Lea Rüegg and Hannah O' Flynn, Bebe books, DOK, Ghent, Belgium (2019)
‘Untitled (Orificially Yours)’, ninth act of "The Immemorial Body: Betraying Carmelo Bene in 9 Acts," a study group led by Sara Giannini, Geo Wyeth and Arnisa Zeqo in collaboration with If I Can't Dance at the DAI Roaming Academy, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy (2019)
‘Leave a message after the’, with Lea Rüegg and Hannah O' Flynn, Pleasure Zone, Basel, Switzerland (2019)
‘A and E’, for 'Aeroponic acts', performative presentation, Silent Green, Berlin, Germany (2019)
‘All you need is the lavatory’, Croxhapox, Ghent, Belgium (2018)
‘Coup de Koer’, De Koer, Ghent, Belgium (2018)
‘исчезать’, Zarya - Center for Contemporary art, Vladivostok, Russia (solo, 2018)
‘How it comes to matter’, Hotwheels, Athens, Greece (2018)
‘Tot in de stad’, De Koer, Ghent, Belgium (2018)
‘There is no place like home’, space Idiot, Turin, Italy (2017)
‘From home to marble’, BLANCO, Ghent, Belgium (solo, 2017)
‘A Sudden and Wonderful Brightening’, Duncairn Centre, Belfast, Northern-Ireland (2017)
‘Exhibition 2016 : B-Cone, Elien Ronse, Gaain Bahc and HASC’, gallery Barimart, Gwangju, South-Korea (2016)
‘CTRL+T’, gallery metamatic:taf, Athens, Greece (solo, 2015-2016)
‘A walk elsewhere’, Pier 2 Artcenter, Kaohsiung, Taiwan (2015)
‘Between 20:49 and 11:17’, performance for exhibition ‘Homecomings’, Projective space, Berlin, Germany (2015)
‘Cooking the ABC’, performance with Pepe Dayaw, Exploring the endotic, Agora collective, Berlin, Germany (2015)
‘Interlaced Structures’, related to Destination Wien, gallery Das Weisse Haus, Vienna, Austria (2015)
‘Vibrations Off’, curated by Honore d’O, gallery Kristof Declercq, Ghent, Belgium (2014)
‘Memory’, with Brooke Sanderson, D’CLINICstudios, Lendava, Slovenia (duo, 2014)
‘De Canvascollectie’, Nomination price for Young artists, Bozar, Brussels, Belgium (2012)
‘Elien Ronse’, Intramuros, CC Gildhof, Tielt, Belgium (solo, 2011)
Teaching (selection)
Guest-speaker, with Stijn Van Dorpe, with students Performance KASK and inhabitants of Muizen, Belgium (2024)
Transversaal Atelier, 3 weeks course in psychiatric hospital St. Alexius, RITCS, Brussels, Belgium (2023-2025)
School of Equals, LUCA, one week intense course, Brussels, Belgium (2023-2024)
Guest-speaker, with Stijn Van Dorpe, for the course Sociologie van de Creatieve Industrieën, Sint Lucas, Antwerp, Belgium (2023)
Guest-speaker, for the course Social Practices, Sint Lucas, Antwerp, Belgium (2023)
Projectweek BA Tekenkunst en Grafiek on working in public space, LUCA, Ghent and Brussels, Belgium (2021)
Interviews and publications
'STADSATELIER - 10 jaar artistieke praktijken in en met de stad', publication by Viernulvier (2023)
'Tekeningen van kinderen met naam', collection of children-drawings from artists, Liesbeth Feys & Pleasure Island (2022)
'Openbare werken, On Public(s)', publication by Voo?uit (2022)
'It astonishes me when I hear you say love', article about mimicking as a way of loving, in TYPP, a journal for artistic research of Sint Lucas School of Arts in Antwerp (2022)
'Garden of Delights', publication with collective about (in)visible work (2022)
'Leave a message after the..', by marc norbert hörler (2019)
'In the studio with Elien Ronse', by Dorothy Hunter, for International Sculpture Center re:sculpt (2017)
'‘Report 07032015-17052016 audio’ for BLATT 3000, a paper for exchange and critical discussion on contemporary music (June 2016)
'Further into banality', by Maria Martens, for Artdependence (2016)
Leben ist kein stilleben', by Frederik Van Laere (2011)