Underbelly Art, art from the gut, aims to draw attention to the care biotope of mental well-being. The focus is on the connection between us and the Other and human well-being.
By analogy with mental healthcare, Underbelly Art, through artistic-therapeutic workshops and exhibitions, among other things, seeks to look at things differently and offer new perspectives, together with artists. Learning to understand the perception of the Other helps us on our way to new insights, acceptance and balance.
Through the exhibition “FACE ON FACE” at the University Psychiatric Centre KU Leuven – Z.org KU Leuven (special thanks to Prof. Dirk De Wachter) by photographer/painter Philippe van Gelooven,
Underbelly Art wants to draw as much attention as possible to the importance of the mental health of students, employees, employers, artists... in other words, of the Other.
UNDERBELLY-ART
‘IDENTITIES IN THE DARK’
2025
Dream it.
The paintings depict human figures in recognisable roles, boxer, dancer, footman but their faces are hidden behind red masks or completely unrecognisable. They stand isolated, often in pairs, against a dark, dreamlike background. This evokes themes such as identity, role patterns, the human condition and the struggle between inner and outer appearance.
Artist's statement
In my work, I explore the roles we play voluntarily or involuntarily and how identity becomes distorted or hidden within social structures.
The characters in my paintings are veiled, masked or faceless. They represent archetypes: the fighter, the servant, the dancer. But their anonymity makes them universal they could be any one of us.
By showing them in a theatrical, often dark environment, I ask the viewer: Who are you when no one is watching? And who must you be when everyone is watching?
The mask protects, but it also takes away. The boxer wears it to fight but is he fighting the other person, or himself? The dancer seems graceful, but is she free or trapped in her role?
I work with diptychs because I believe that identity can rarely be captured in a single image. Contrasts, dark sides, doubles: they are inevitable. Just as a mirror does not show truth, but only reflection.
Visual symbolism.
The red mask: a powerful visual symbol. Red is intense, emotionally charged, referring to blood, struggle, passion, shame or anger. The masks hide faces, but sometimes reveal a mouth, reminiscent of a scream or silence.
Dark backgrounds: isolate the figures, as if they were standing in a kind of existential void. They suggest introspection, dream worlds or the subconscious.
Clothing and attributes: indicate social roles. But the context is empty or ambiguous a boxer without an audience, a footman without a court. This creates alienation.
Body language: subtle but powerful. The figures radiate strength and pride, but also melancholy and loneliness.
THE RING 01
‘The Ring’ about boxers; struggle, masquerade, masculinity, strength and vulnerability.
arcylic on canvas 100/150 cm
THE RING 02
Red Masks’ as an overarching symbol of identity, anonymity and protection.
arcylic on canvas 100/150 cm
THE COURT
‘The Court’ about the dancer and the footman; stateliness, etiquette, servitude, female and male roles within systems.
arcylic on canvas 100/150 cm
RED MASKS
Red Masks’ as an overarching symbol of identity, anonymity and protection.
arcylic on canvas 100/150 cm
THE COUNTESS
arcylic on canvas 60/80 cm
‘FACE ON FACE’
2022
Inspired by Levinas and Dirk De Wachter
The meaning of life has to do with the Other, understanding the gaze of the Other, being meaningful to the Other.
I am only here because you see me.
BURNING MAN
arcylic on canvas 100/150 cm
arcylic on canvas 100/120 cm Portrait of my father ... let’s talk about fathers.
UN CAMINO
arcylic on canvas 100/150 cm
Exhibition ‘FACE ON FACE’
Universitair Psychiatrisch Centrum KU Leuven – Zorg KU Leuven
te Kortenberg
October - December 2023
Special thanks to Prof. Dirk De Wachter
INSANITY
of
HUMANITY
2019
Wingman, Cageman,
Insanity Man and
Shiny Man.
- A synaptic perspective
on life and art.
BUILDING YOUR BRAIN
About conjunction and visual communication
Wingman.
In our human nervous system a synapse is a structure that permits
a nerve cell to pass an electrical or chemical signal to another nerve cell or neuron.
It is a contact site featuring communicating, transferring and converting characteristics.
The word ‘synapse’ – from the Greek ‘synapsis’ means ‘conjunction’, a term emphasizing
on the union between two seperate elements’.
Philippe: ‘The role that synapses play in our life is just fascinating.
The fact alone that they play an important role in the formation of our memory
is fundamentally inspirational.
My work
As a painter I progress
In my work
In my mind
And suddenly a smart little guy showed up in my paintings and kept coming back.
He has a suit and two strong, open wings.
I don’t know his name so for now I just call him Wingman. Not sure why he is
there and what role he plays in my paintings, but it is just impossible to ignore him.
In some occasions he is a ‘bystander’,
watching the world, without interfering. Other times he is the centre piece of
my composition, activating the vast reality around him.
The outlines of his wings are sturdy and black, the inner structure is a web of streams of
gold such as nerves and synapses…
Then wingman was gone….
Cageman
Is it in my brain or in my mind, a non connection between synapse or
do I need a shift of mindset, do I have to look different at things or do I have
to change things….
Maybe black is lightness, maybe lightness is black! If we don’t make the same connection
we can’t see the same thing. If the synapse doesn’t works the same way the result will be
different. If we grow up we grow up differently, we see things different, we live in a different
world.
Cageman appeared.
Insanity Man
The mind isn’t locked in the brain but extends far beyond it said someone.
Maybe we should cancel the mind and leave it to artificial intelligence!
Shutdown with Insanity Man.
Shiny Man!
Rebooting the brain.
Why is it so difficult to change my think pattern?
