Bert van Hoecke on Art, Interiors and the Dialogue Between Them

“I look for ways shapes and forms can talk to each other, how they might create a kind of visual poetry. It’s a bit like cooking: when the ingredients are right, something magical can happen. I try to do the same, but for the eye. Editing myself is incredibly important. Even if I love an idea, I have to ask whether it truly serves the whole. You need to know when to kill your darlings– and when to stop. In the end, forms and colours should make a person feel welcomed when they enter. That’s when a space starts to feel effortless.”

“In the end, forms and colours should make a person feel welcomed when they enter. That’s when a space starts to feel effortless.”

“I absolutely believe a home – or any interior – can change the way we feel, think, or live. It’s the reason I do what I do. At a minimum, an interior should never irritate the person using it – whether it’s the colours, the proportions, or the flow of the room. Just like the weather can lift or dampen your mood, our surroundings always influence how we feel and think.”

The intimate exhibition was arranged as an open-call, inviting the galleries participating in the 19th edition of Market Art Fair to showcase works from young and emerging artists, incorporating these works into Bert van Hoecke’s interiors. Some of the artists shown included Liva Isaksson Lundin, represented by Wetterling Gallery; New York-based Kelsey Shwetz, represented by Coulisse Gallery; and Helga Páley from Iceland, represented by Þula. The choice to focus on emerging artists was something that resonated with van Hoecke.

“For me the exhibition was a way for me to support the art community and help young people find their way. I think my previous work as a teacher has a lot to do with that. What I learned from seeing the space temporarily become an exhibition is that art can come in many different forms, and depending on where you put a piece, it will communicate different things. I like that. Good art is always multi-layered.”

Among the artists featured were two works by Danish artist Casper Aguila (Alice Folker Gallery) whose work captures nature and humans in delicate, almost fragile situations, yet his perspective remains both poetic and raw. Through novel combinations of photography, sculpture and painting, he explores how these classical techniques are perceived, hereby making room for reinterpretations and new possibilities in the materials.

Swedish artist Liva Isakson Lundin (Wetterling Gallery) is best known for her large-scale, often site-specific works, where the surrounding space becomes an integral part of the artwork. Using industrial materials such as metal, rubber, and glass, she explores structures, tension, and movement. Her sculptural approach also extends into painting, where the canvas becomes another arena for compression and release. Lundin is currently presenting a new large-scale installation in Gothenburg, transforming the city’s iconic Avenyn into a more vibrant public space. Stretching from Valand to Götaplatsen, the work incorporates terrazzo lines made from recycled local stone, weaving together the city’s history while shaping its future.

With so many works gathered in such a limited space, they inevitably began to interact with the interiors that Bert van Hoecke had created for the showroom, at times clashing and at other moments finding harmony. When asked whether he saw himself as a curator, a host, or a collaborator in this process, he reflected:

“I tried to approach the exhibition with my role being a host. But then the interior designer could not help to be edited out of the equation. Sometimes it twitched in my fingers. But like a good host, I think that was me trying to make the guests – both the people and the artworks – feel comfortable and introduce them to each other – and to my furniture. I hope they had a nice time, I think they did.”

Bert van Hoecke tries this at home as well. Integrating and introducing his interiors and his artworks to each other, creating dialogues and clashes. His own home features pieces by artists such as Charlotte Gyllenhammar and Helene Scherfbeck. Art is a part of his everyday life.

“The first artwork that truly moved me was a sculpture by Modigliani at the Tate Gallery in London July  1996. I was there on my own. I turned a corner. And there it was. I cannot explain it. The force of the work struck me. I can´t remember the exact feeling, just that it struck me. I was 18 and did not understand much of art back then, which was ok. Art does not always need to be understood, I think. Sometimes feeling art is enough.”

“That is my advice to people that want to live meaningful lives with art as well – Please buy what you like, not what you think is a good investment. Buying art you like or that provokes feelings, should be the beginning of a life long relationship.”

“Buying art you like or that provokes feelings, should be the beginning of a life long relationship.”