In her work, Valérie Mannaerts examines the physiognomic qualities of things and questions the relationship between organic and inorganic forms, the presence and autonomy of objects and the history recorded in them. Her work consists of various materials such as wood, bronze, ceramics, textiles, paint, papier-mâché and paper with which she creates hybrid, contradictory and precarious forms in which both chance and formal delimitation play a role. In the aesthetic universe of Valérie Mannaerts, artificial and natural forms come together and the familiar and the unusual enter into dialogue, a process that expresses itself in an idiosyncratic play of proportions and forms, layers, motifs and distorted dimensions.
Valérie Mannaerts (1974) lives and works in Brussels. She was artist in residence at the ISCP New York (2008) and at De Rijksakademie, Amsterdam (2007). She has participated in exhibitions at Kunsthalle Münster, Bozar (Brussels), Roger Raveel Museum (Machelen-aan-de-Leie), Extra City (Antwerp), RedCat Gallery (Los Angeles), Kiosk (Ghent), de Appel (Amsterdam), Culturgest (Lisbon), among others. Publications: Valérie Mannaerts. An Exhibition, Another Exhibition (Sternberg Press, 2011), Hit Me With Your Colour Stick (MER Paper Kunsthalle, 2013).