Inside/Outside, The House as Shell is a temporary, site-specific group exhibition taking place during Antwerp Art Weekend. For this project, the gallery settles into the back house of painter Nils Verkaeren, where boundaries between inside and outside, centre and periphery, host and guest are explored. Verkaeren acts both as artist and curator, inviting a selection of gallery artists into his personal living and working space. He has selected works by Guy Slabbinck, Nick Andrews, Anne Vanoutryve, Fik Van Gestel, Stefan Peters, Michaël de Kok, Yves Beaumont, Peter Lagast, Colin Waeghe and Stief DeSmet.

The back house functions not merely as an exhibition space, but as an active metaphor. With little direct view of the outside world, the space is nonetheless charged with concentration and memory. For Verkaeren, the house operates as a shell: a protective inner space that does not exclude the outside world, but filters and reinterprets it. This stands in contrast to his plein air painting practice, in which nature serves as an alibi for painting.

In this exhibition, the focus shifts to the inner landscape—the image that emerges when the outside world is not directly visible. Rather than presenting literal landscapes, the artists create mental windows onto the world. Paintings, sculptures, and installations hover between perception and imagination, forming an intimate, sensorial experience that resonates with the exploratory character of Antwerp Art Weekend.

With Inside / Outside, The House as Shell, Galerie Zwart Huis participates for the first time in the OFF programme of Antwerp Art Weekend. The gallery invites visitors to slow down and reflect on how spaces—private and public alike—shape what we perceive. At a time when these boundaries are increasingly blurred, the exhibition offers space for reflection and imagination.

LOCATION
Studio Nils Verkaeren, Jodenstraat 12, 2000 Antwerpen

OPENING HOURS DURING ART ANTWERP WEEKEND
Thursday 14 May, 12:00–21:00
Friday 15 May, 12:00–18:00
Saturday 16 May, 12:00–19:00
Sunday 17 May, 12:00–18:00

SPECIAL EVENTS

Thursday 14 May, 19:00–21:00
DJ set by DJ Dela Ghost (Peter Lagast)

Saturday 16 May, 17:00–19:00
DJ set by MicaNik (We Are Various, Soundscore for Sculpture)

Sunday 17 May, 14:00–16:00
Book launch El Pulso del Agua and artist talk with Nils Verkaeren & publisher/curator Bruno Devos