Naturally Magic: Curated by Elien Haentjens

With the exhibition Naturally magic curator Elien Haentjens wants to deepen the multi-layered DNA of Shåk Gallery. As in the contemporary creative field strongly defined labels become less relevant and artists just choose the best medium to freely express them. On the ground floor of the gallery the outspoken, colourful worlds of sculptor-ceramist Sofi van Saltbommel and performer-artist Darius Dolatyari Dolatdoust magically blend together. They’re both fascinated by the human, the animal and mythology, and translate their ideas using textiles, ceramics, painting or performance into a universe that freely plays with the thin line between art and design and phantasy and reality.

The upstairs floor of the gallery is being submerged in a more mysterious, contemplative atmosphere. The Lunair lamps by autodidact Filip Janssens and the Folding screen by cabinetmaker Alexandre Lowie give prominence to the instant beauty of nature, while RSLT – the co-creative project of the textile duo Studio KRJST, scenographer Simon Tentoon and architect Xavier Houben – translates their dreamy, enigmatic textiles into surprising furniture such as the XXL beach chair. Besides Linde Freya Tangelder from Destroyers/Builders translates a stunning architectural detail – the organically shaped windows of the SESC Pompéia sports and cultural center by the female Italo-Brazilian modernist architect Lina Bo Bardi in Sāo Paulo – into a perfectly balanced collection of stools annex side tables. Through their very personal universes, these designers invite us to discover the magic in the world around us.