Art Brussels 2026

Axel Vervoordt Gallery is pleased to announce its participation in Art Brussels 2026.

For Art Brussels 2026, we propose a solo presentation by Sopheap Pich, bringing together his recent explorations of form, material, and transformation into a single immersive experience. This presentation coincides with the artist’s first solo exhibition at Axel Vervoordt Gallery in Antwerp, following his 2025 solo in the gallery’s Hong Kong space, and builds on his public commission earlier this year on New York’s High Line.

The presentation is anchored by a monumental tree-like installation in recycled aluminum. Three intertwined vertical forms rise from the floor, their spiraling surfaces recalling growth, resilience, and interdependence. Each sculpture carries traces of its previous life—pots and pans melted down and reshaped—linking material transformation to histories of survival, displacement, and regeneration. Their scale invites movement through the space, encouraging visitors to encounter the works as both architectural and living forms.

Complementing the aluminum installation, Pich will present new glass sculptures integrated into bamboo frameworks. While the exact forms remain open, these works continue his investigation of fragility and endurance, transparency and weight, and the interplay between organic and architectural structures.

A new seedpod sculpture, enlarged and cast in metal and bronze-copper alloys using a traditional rod technique, extends this exploration. Together with the tree installation, it embodies transformation, regeneration, and the latent potential of natural forms. All works are made from locally sourced and recycled materials—bamboo, rattan, and metal—reflecting Cambodia’s culture of reuse and Pich’s dialogue with material, memory, and environment.

The presentation offers a humanized encounter with Pich’s practice, combining monumentality, intimacy, and poetic rigor. Visitors move through a space where natural forms, human histories, and material transformation converge, experiencing the enduring power and elegance of contemporary sculpture.

Sopheap Pich (b. 1971, Battambang, Cambodia) is widely regarded as Cambodia’s leading contemporary artist. After studying in the United States, he returned to Cambodia in 2002 and began transforming locally sourced materials—including bamboo, rattan, burlap, beeswax, and earth pigments—into sculptures that explore the body, vegetal forms, and abstract structures. His work reflects themes of memory, resilience, and the passage of time, informed by his childhood experiences during the Khmer Rouge era. Pich’s breakthrough came with his 2013 solo exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Cambodian Rattan: The Sculptures of Sopheap Pich, the first solo show at the museum dedicated to a contemporary Southeast Asian artist. His sculptures, including the geometric Wall Reliefs and biomorphic forms, are held in major collections such as the Centre Pompidou, M+, and the Met. Recent projects include monumental tree-like installations and a major public commission on New York’s High Line, where recycled metal and organic forms extend his exploration of growth, transformation, and the interplay between natural and urban environments.