Antoine De Winter
About Antoine de Winter
Antoine De Winter is a visual artist and photographer. He lives and works in Brussels. He initially pursued studies in medicine and anthropology at the University of Louvain. He later practiced as a doctor and anthropologist for 8 years. At the end of his doctoral thesis, he returned to studying photography at the Agnès Varda School of Photography, which he completed in 2018 with the jury's commendations. Antoine de Winter is represented by Hangar Gallery.
Photographic approach of Antoine de Winter
Antoine De Winter's practice questions the production of photographic images through experimentation with the medium, the materials used and their layout in space. His work encompasses documentary photography, artistic research, and sculpture.
His early works Blindfolded (2023) emerged from his contemplation of the standardization of perspective in the Alps, as well as his questioning of the impact of urbanization and image overproduction in the 21st century on our perception of these natural spaces.
More recently, his works have been examining various aspects of iconography and the production of photographic images in the Anthropocene era. Through various experiments with the photographic medium, materials, and spatial arrangement, he strives to formulate a pictorial ecosophy and contemplate alternative methods of image creation. A significant portion of his work revolves around the materialization of the photographic image through the employed techniques. In his latest project, Followers (2024), Antoine De Winter explores self-representation in the age of social networks and artificial intelligence, using traditional photographic techniques.
After collecting stolen portraits from fake Instagram user profiles, Antoine De Winter then compiled them via an AI software to recreate a synthetic image, close to the original yet so distant. Transposed in cyanotype on fabric and modeled in relief with beeswax, these faces acquire a disquieting presence whose blue echoes the blue light of screens. The texture of the canvas, reminiscent of pixels, reinforces these shifts in time. Other faces are revealed on gold-leafed glass plates, acting as icons of our contemporary narcissism.
With Followers, Antoine De Winter creates images that evoke the ambiguous feeling of watching while being watched. He invites us to reflect on the duality between our desire for digital immortality and our fear of dematerializing our identity.
Exhibitions and Publications
Antoine de Winter has participated in numerous exhibitions, showcasing his work at venues such as Galerie 41 (Antwerp), the Centre Wallon d’art contemporain, the Biennale de l'Image Tangible (Paris) and the Dvir Gallery (Brussels).
His series Followers was part of the exhibitions Unique - Beyond photography and Apparitions held at Hangar (Brussels) in spring and autumn 2024.
He was also part of Off program at the Rencontres Photographiques d’Arles in 2018 and has held exhibitions in Belgium and France. In 2024, he participated at the Approche photo fair in Paris with Hangar Gallery and was part of the exhibition « Dans tes brumes » at Galerie les filles du calvaire in Paris.
Antoine De Winter has received numerous awards, including the Support for Contemporary Artistic Creation from the Fédération Wallonie Bruxelles in 2021.
