Els Nouwen (°1968, BE) lives and works in Antwerp. She studied painting at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp and philosophy at the University of Antwerp.
Her paintings emerge from photographic traces — images drawn from the media, art history, or her personal archive. What initially appears familiar is gradually disrupted, layer by layer. She paints over, scratches, erases or adds. The tension between figuration and abstraction, between what is revealed and what remains hidden, unfolds across paper, canvas and copper plate — each with its own resistance and rhythm. In a world saturated with images, Nouwen exposes the frayed edges of seeing.
Her work has been exhibited at, among others, Ruimte Morguen, Behind Bars, Workplace and SECONDroom (Antwerp), Waldburger Wouters (Brussels), WARP (Sint-Niklaas) and Albert van Abbehuis (Eindhoven). The painting OXO (2019–2020) is part of the collection of M Leuven, acquired by the Flemish Community.