Premio Combat Prize

Nel Bonte’s visual work is a purified language of shape. She creates installations and sculptures consisting of abstracted visual elements and related to fragments of our reality.
Nel uses her eye for detail and her fascination for this ‘detailed’ fragment. The work lives and transforms. Nel prefers to work in situ. The space is, as it were, the mould for her
installations and sculptures.
Installation ‘D.I.S.P.E.N.S.E.R.’
‘D.I.S.P.E.N.S.E.R.’ is inspired by the toilet roll dispenser found in every rest room of undefined, distant, non-homey spaces like the gas station by the highway. Nel often finds herself in this no man’s land and became aware of the different shapes of dispensers. She wants to give this meaningless object a new shape and reason of being. The object is stripped of its clean, industrial idiom and built up out of several hand-soaked, transparently pigmented layers of toilet paper.
The magnification of the object, which helps shape this newly autonomous sculpture, is confronting for the spectator. Determining the magnification ratio in the physical space is crucial for Nel and essential for the choice of the materials for the sculpture. Because of this, a fundamental relation arises between the body of the spectator and the visual work that, in this case, incites our collective memory of… the toilet roll dispenser!
Personalia:
Nel Bonte
°1986, Roeselare, Belgium
Visual artist
mobile: ++32 (0)478 25 01 98
email: info@nelbonte.com
website: www.nelbonte.com
Address : Weidestraat 69, 8800 Roeselare, Belgium
Studio address: Nieuwstraat 4 bus 3, 8810 Lichtervelde, Belgium
Education:
2007 - ‘10 Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Master of Fine Arts,
Antwerp (B)
2005 - ‘06 KASK Conservatory, Bachelor of Fine Arts, Ghent (B)
Exhibitions (selection):
2017 ‘TIG#5’, De Koer, TUMULT fm, Ghent (B)
(groupexhibition)
2017 ‘ARTTRUCTROC ‘, Bozar, Brussels (B) (group exhibition)
2017 ‘PRIX MEDIATINE’, la médiatine, Brussels (B) (group
exhibition)
2016 ‘INTERRUPTING THE CITY’, city hall, Antwerp (B),
curator Bert Danckaert, Sarah Van Binsbergen, Pascal
Gielen (group exhibition)
2015 ‘BEAUFORT 2015’, Buiten de grenzen, St. Roch Church,
Blankenberge (B), architecture exhibition, organizers
Caroline Voet, Leen De Brabandere ( group exhibition)
(cat.)
2015 ‘BRAEM PAVILJOEN’, Middelheimmuseum, Antwerp (B),
sketch creation contest, ‘Les bruit des choses’,
(group exhibition)
2014 ‘DOP PLATFORM’, Antwerp (B), One armed man, t
groen kwartier, (group exhibition) (cat.)
2014 ‘KUNSTSALON SANT’, Bruges (B), curator Marianne Van
Boxelaere, (group exhibition)
2013 ‘MUHKA’, Antwerp (B) Muhkademie, curator Johan Pas,
Nico Dockx
(group exhibition / in collaboration with architect Yona
Friedman) (cat.)
2013 ‘5N-CASN’, Roeselare (B), Godelieve Church,
H.Godelieveparochie, (solo exhibition)
2013 ‘NVT GALLERY’, Ghent (B), curator Tom Maeseele,
Elske Jansen, (duo exhibition)
2013 ‘3N-CASN’, Kaprijke (B), Hall Kaprijke, organizer Koen
Van de Wiele division municipal Kaprijke,
(solo exhibition)
2013 ‘4N-CASN’, Antwerp (B), Business center de ijsfabriek,
organizer Ingeri Van Alsenoy, ( solo exhibition)
2013 ‘DE MUUR’, Antwerp (B), culture center Berchem, curator
Egon Verleyen, (duo exhibition)
2012 ‘KUNSTSALON SANT’, Bruges (B), curator Germain
Meurisse, (group exhibition) (cat.)
2012 ‘S-250’, Antwerp (B), The city hall of Anwerp, organizer
Britt Vervliet, (solo exhibition)
2011 ‘EXTRA CITY ‘, Blind date, Antwerp, curator Nico Dockx,
Dirk Vander Eecken, (group exhibition) (cat.)
2010 ‘HET ENTREPOT VZW’, Bruges (B), Vama Veche, Astrid
park Brugge, ( solo exhibition)
2010 ‘ANTARTIK’, Antwerp (B), University of Antwerp, (group
exhibition)
2010 ‘CLUB MORAL rvstd’, Antwerp (B), curator Danny Devos,
(performance)
2010 ‘HOFSTRAAT’, Antwerp (B), L’ Abondance, curator Koen
Theys, (group exhibition)
2009 ‘109.M’, Oostduinkerke (B), (performance)
Integrated works:
2015 ‘MEME II’, WZC ter Potterie, Bruges, not realised (B)
2013 ‘BIDIBU1’, Kinderdag verblijf Bambi, Beringen, realised (B)
2013 ‘RE3’, Campus Vesta, Ranst, realised (B)
2013 ‘METHUNA’, DVC 7bergen, Ranst, realised (B)
2013 ‘DEUX BANCS SQUARE’, Brussels, not realised (B)
2011 ‘2-PILLIO’, Ocmw Hoogstraten, realised (B)
Prices:
2013 Price GODECHARLE, Brussels (B), laureate

Residence:
2010 VERBEKE FOUNDATION, Kemzeke (B), ‘Master maquette’, curator Nadia Naveau
Publications:
2017 ‘TIG#5’, TUMULT fm, April, 2017, p. 20
2017 Prix Mediatinne, Wolubilis, February, 2017, p.29
2016 Stimulans 16, Ann - Sophie Marien and Catherine
Baelde, May, 2016, p. 10 - p.11
2014 One armed man, Jens Dawn, DOP platform vzw, 2014, p. 60
2014 Pro - positions, Art and / as education, 2363 - 2013, Nico
Dockx - Els De Bruyn and Johan Pas, March, 2014, p. 304
2013 Mukhazine, Muhkademy, 2013
2012 De Hoogstraatse maand, March, 2012, p. 14 - p. 15
2012 Kunstsalon Sant, Charlotte Dermul and Dirk Van Royen,
April, 2012, p. 29 - p. 30
2011 Blind date, Nico Dockx, March, 2011, p. 10
2010 Masterbook, 9.N-CASN, Lien and Nel Bonte, June, 2010,
p. 0 - p.205
2010 Masters 2010, Royal Academy of Fine Arts, June, 2010,
p. 8 - p. 9