An invitation to stroll

We invite you on an immersive walk to (re)discover the Brussels canal, depicted by a leading artist of the Belgian scene: Alexandre Obolensky. An invitation to take a break, to stroll and to contemplate.

Known as a painter of theatre, opera, ballet and exhibition sets, Alexandre Obolensky (Brussels, 1952-2018) has also developed a personal body of work around the Brussels canal.

As the lights and landscapes change, the canal is transformed.

The exhibition invites us to take a sensitive and contemplative stroll, to discover a series of paintings, disturbing in their realism, which show us a plural canal captured by the artist’s eye and interpreted according to his pictorial technique.  The works are a call to stop, observe and question our gaze, our perception of this canal, which is part of the Brussels landscape, but still often unknown.  

Obolensky’s approach was to photograph and then de-photograph through painting.

Through the eyes of the artist, this free walk also invites us to discover his creative process. From the choice of the angle of view to the pictorial transposition through the grid, the exhibition shows the different stages of a precise and rigorous technique. 

The exhibition is aimed at a wide audience, from art lovers to curious observers, young and old, thanks to the integration of interactive devices in the visitor’s path. 

A catalogue of the exhibition is also available to continue the walk from home or in the footsteps of the artist along the canal.  

For those who want to know more about the artist, the book Alexandre Obolensky, a retrospective on his career as a set painter and on his personal work, is also available. Illustrated with numerous photographs and accompanied by the testimonies of observers and privileged collaborators, it retraces a life of painting, a unique and particular profession between operas, theatres, large exhibitions and intimate work.