crox 70 (1997). Participates in Schilderkunst Hedendaags Belgisch.
crox 84 (1998). Solo project. Paintings.
crox 110
(2003), Basics 1 (drawings, sketches, studies). Group project with works from 25 artists. Bart Baele contributes half a dozen drawings and a text in typoscript.
crox 166
(Feb-March 2006), finnisage of the solo project by Nicolas >Leus.
Wim De Waegeneer and a.o. Bart Baele give a lecture.
crox 145-II, Basics 2 (sequel/ April 2006).
'FOR ME, PAINTING IS A QUEST' ['SCHILDEREN IS VOOR MIJ EEN ZOEKTOCHT']
- review in a regional edition of a local newspaper (October 1998). Region Sint-Amandsberg/Gontrode. "If I would know it all, I wouldn't be painting" says Bart Baele. "For me, painting is a quest, although I don't know precisely what for." This young artist exhibits his paintings in Croxhapox, a handsome space in Aannemersstraat in Sint-Amandsberg./ Bart
Baele resided in Wetteren for many years and there gained a name as a popular card and performer, someone who has no problem animating the locals. That image of village fool stands in sharp contrast to the dead serious artist Bart Baele./ "Perhaps one compensates the other" says he. "My artistic work is serious business, and I want to be recognised as a genuine artist. Painting is an intensive and continuous activity. Sometimes people seem to forget it is." GONTRODE It is blatantly obvious that his recent move to Gontrode has been a source of inspiration. Baele first and foremost paints what he sees in his immediate environment: the house in Gontrode, the garden, views from the neighbourhood. "I found a very appropriate spot to paint in Gontrode: even the local neighbourhood offers a lot of views, and there is an attractive absence of noise. That is very important to me."/ The artist's work isn't purely figurative though. "There is no easy way to categorize my work," he says. "I start from some kind of representation but soon I move to more abstract levels." Perhaps this is why Baele's works keep intriuging and why they carry a hint of mystery. We think his works differ stylistically, but the artist disagrees. "All of this is me." BIDON The paintings effortlessly fit into Croxhapox' spaces, The green landscapes and the country life scenes dominating the paintings tie up naturally with the balcony overlooking the patio: an organic continuity. / Bart Baele's former cycling-mania has all but disappeared. Cycling, though, was a prominent theme in his works a few months ago. No doubt because Baele was the co-founder of Bidon, the amateur cycling federation of Wetteren. "A wild bunch of weirdos who like to go cycling", he said. Apparently, that time is over. Baele symbolically created a distance: against a dark background, a cyclist we can only see the back of so to speak rides out of the canvas. Originally this work should have been included in the exhibition but it didn't make the final selection. This too makes Bart Baele an artist to follow: who knows what the next exhibition will offer?" (P.B.)