Koen Vanmechelen
Decades ago, Venice shaped me as an artist. Beneath its seductive surface, the city revealed itself as a laboratory of exchange, crossings and contamination. A place where cultures, ideas and bodies constantly meet.
From Murano glass to Carrara marble, from laboratories to landscapes, Vanmechelen’s practice moves across materials and geographies. Each encounter leaves a trace. Works travel, absorb influence, and return transformed.
In We Thought We Were Alone, this movement comes back to Venice. The exhibition begins with “I”, but only comes alive when that “I” dissolves into “we”.
Hybridity - between human and animal, culture and nature - is not a stylistic choice, but a mirror. It reveals how control, domestication and fear shape the world we inhabit.
The alternative proposed is rewilding: not a return to purity, but a learning of limits - and of coexistence.
Short Biography
Koen Vanmechelen is a renowned Belgian conceptual artist whose work investigates identity, diversity and global interdependence. He translates research into sculptures and installations, often developed through collaborations with scientists and communities. The result is an evolving body of work that treats diversity not as a theme, but as a method. In 2010 he received an honorary doctorate from Hasselt University. He won the Golden Nica for Hybrid Art at Prix Ars Electronica in 2013 and received the Global Artistʼs Award in Venice. His work has been presented internationally, including at the Uffizi Gallery (Firenze), V&A (London) and ZKM (Karlsruhe), and featured in major recurring exhibitions such as the Venice Biennale, dOCUMENTA (13) and Manifesta 9. He has also been invited to speak at the World Economic Forum 2008 and at TED events. Since 2017, Vanmechelen has been shaping LABIOMISTA in Genk (Belgium), a unique and ever-evolving 24-hectare park where art, science, and nature converge, embodying his vision of art as a catalyst for dialogue, biodiversity, and sustainable futures. MORE INFO labiomista.com
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