OBSTAKLES, the major survey of Willem Oorebeek, brings together some 40 groups of works, individual or in series, covering the period from the early 1980s to the present day. The curator of the exhibition, Pauline Hatzigeorgiou, guides us through the exhibition, offering insights into Oorebeek’s artistic practice by highlighting five of his works.
Installation view: 'Willem Oorebeek: OBSTAKLES'.
WIELS Centre for Contemporary Art, Brussels, 2025.
Courtesy the artist. Photo credit: We Document Art.
WIELS Centre for Contemporary Art, Brussels, 2025.
Courtesy the artist. Photo credit: We Document Art.
1. BLACKOUTS, 1999-ongoing
Willem Oorebeek began the BLACKOUTS series in 1999 after discovering a principle he would later explore across various media: overprinting a printed document with a layer of black ink. This process obscures the original material, stripping it of its legibility while allowing traces of the underlying image or text to emerge enigmatically. The series invites us into a choreography of the gaze. Depending on the light’s reflection and the viewer’s position, the hidden content shifts in appearance. In this way, BLACKOUTS highlights the significance of context and the viewer’s active role in perceiving the work.
WIELS Centre for Contemporary Art, Brussels, 2025.
Courtesy the artist. Photo credit: We Document Art.
2. Vertikal Klub, 1994-2005
Vertikal Klub originated in 1994 and has taken on various forms ever since. The series features a collection of full-length portraits, selected by the artist from magazines and enlarged to life-size. Through this work, Oorebeek explores the conventions of portraiture and how individuals navigate these frameworks to present themselves—while simultaneously being shaped by social and media influences.
WIELS Centre for Contemporary Art, Brussels, 2025.
Courtesy the artist. Photo credit: Mélissa Fauve.
3. The Last Emperor Of The Wall Street Journal (Alan Greenspan), 2004
This large tapestry portrays Alan Greenspan, the economist and former chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve. The image from The Wall Street Journal reflects Oorebeek’s fascination with its iconic ‘Hedcut’ portrait style—meticulously crafted pen-and-ink illustrations used for half-column portraits. Originally a tiny newspaper thumbnail, the portrait has been dramatically enlarged, revealing three overlapping layers: the printed image and typography, the faint impression of the reverse side, and the intricate fibers of the paper itself.
WIELS Centre for Contemporary Art, Brussels, 2025.
Courtesy the artist. Photo credit: We Document Art.
4. Budget Eating, 1953 (in collaboration with Koenraad Dedobbeleer)
The installation Budget Eating consists of five videos created by Willem Oorebeek and Koenraad Dedobbeleer. When nominated for an art prize, Dedobbeleer invited Oorebeek to collaborate, proposing that they use the institution’s production budget to fund a series of restaurant meals. Over two months, the artists shared multiple dinners, with a camera placed on the table capturing both the details of the meal and the atmosphere of each location. The resulting video installation critiques the competitive nature of art prizes while also drawing connections to artistic traditions, such as Dutch still life painting and the consumption of art.
WIELS Centre for Contemporary Art, Brussels, 2025.
Courtesy the artist. Photo credit: We Document Art.
5. Getuigen voor Den Bosch, 1996
This large woolen tapestry, measuring about 10 meters long and 2 meters high, was initially created for a group exhibition at the Palace of Justice in Den Bosch in 1996, to improve the acoustics of its halls. The black-and-white motif, which initially appears abstract, is derived from an enlargement of details taken from press images. In these images, the spectators are blurred, and relegated to the background while the focus remains on the action at hand. This depiction of a hazy mass of onlookers reflects the role of the witness in a judicial context.
