Confrontation
Three Representations of the World
Born in 1951 in Polleur (Belgium), André Dael lives and works in Liège. After studying art at Saint-Luc (Liège) and the Academy of Fine Arts in Verviers, he dedicated himself to working on paper from the late 1960s, exhibiting in Belgium and abroad.
After spending several periods abroad, he settled in Brussels in 1977 as a freelance graphic designer. In 1980, he opened the jazz club Bloomdido, which he managed until 1984. He then pursued a career in graphic design, creating posters and publications for Belgian cultural and musical institutions.
From 2008 onward, he fully resumed his artistic practice, focusing on ink and pen. His short, rapid, and precise strokes fill the paper, creating a delicate balance between emptiness and substance. At first glance, his compositions resemble intricate spiderwebs, but they gradually reveal ethereal, floating landscapes where air flows freely. Each layered stroke carries a memory, rooted in the tradition of Flemish landscapes, evoking the meticulousness of Rembrandt, the density of Dürer, and the obsessive scribbles of Michaux and Vieira da Silva.
Without monumentality or artifice, his work unfolds in the quiet intimacy of paper, inviting the viewer to engage in careful contemplation. Magnitudo Parvi—the greatness of the small.