As an artist, Thé van Bergen has achieved a prolific and meaningful career by now. Through his rigorous and evolving exploration of abstraction, materiality and the fundamental aspects of painting, he has always remained one of the most remarkable and idiosyncratic painters in contemporary art.
But Thé van Bergen has also played an important role as a dedicated (guest) teacher at various art schools and institutes in Belgium and the Netherlands. The exact number of students he passed on his knowledge and experience to is difficult to determine, but it is beyond doubt that he left an indelible impression on the students he mentored. And it is likewise difficult to determine the extent of his actual influence on their development as artists, though it is clear that many of them are still prominently active in the contemporary art landscape and have successfully found their own path.
For 'wandelgangen' (corridors), we invited a small selection of these artists to enter into dialogue with Thé van Bergen's oeuvre:
Leyla Aydoslu, Arne Bastien, Michiel Ceulers, Vaast Colson, Charlie De Voet, Tina Gillen, Vedran Kopljar, Bart Lodewijks, Tom Poelmans, Glenn Sanders, Sarah Smolders, Lisa Vlaemminck.
They all presented a work to which Thé in turn gave a visual response from his archive.
