braking back

​(30 jan - 15 mar 2025, brussels, belgium) is a duo exhibition by sébastien pauwels and jens braun, presented by esther verhaeghe art concepts and curated by artedge.

braking back brings together pauwels' “ghostly” sculptures — incomplete, fragile forms that hint at human and animal figures while also revealing their assembling process — a braun’s abstract paintings, which intuitively visualize processes, decisions, and changes of mind.

both artists share an affinity for humor, spontaneity, and a playful approach materiality and form. while pauwels’ incomplete figures explore absence through the fragility, braun’s painting process is a continuous search, where the void holds as much meaning as presence.

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the exhibition celebrates the delicate balance between materiality and void, presence and absence, highlighting the beauty found in what remains unsaid and unseen — in the gaps, the voids, and the traces left behind. with meanings that are fluid and ever-evolving, braking back invites viewers into an open, ongoing dialogue; encouraging personal reflection a creating a space where the interaction between viewer and work becomes as expansive as the work itself.