Kobe Sabbe

1976, Bruges (Belgium)

Oeuvre ...

"Actually, I am a born painter, but I ended up on some wanderings before it became clear. I worked as a civil engineer in Stockholm for quite some time and later moved to Tokyo, where I stayed for a project. That's where the click came, as if something awoke in my psyche. I started devoting myself fanatically to philosophy and realised that science turned my world completely upside down.

After a spiritual quest, I absolutely wanted to create and lost my heart to painting. My work has always been linked to the passion for self-examination: who am I? What is the nature of this world? How do I express that visually? Anything and anyone can inspire me, as long as I am open-minded to it. Thus, through my paintings, my deeper consciousness becomes palpable to the viewer. By the way, the greatest reward for the artist is the creation itself. It never happens on command or order, but when the moment is right. I dream that my work continues to deepen in this way and that the dialogue with the work of other artists leads to fine collaborations."

- Kobe Sabbe

A propos de Kobe Sabbe

Graduated as Master of Science in Engineering from Ghent University.

Lived in Sweden and Japan for 10 years.

Self-taught painter.

Practicioner of Zen Buddhist meditation.

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As a child I liked to draw. Recently I found a pile of drawings from back then and noticed that, as I got older, my drawing evolved from free to artificial. Soon my creativity got blocked and I stopped.

As an engineer in a top company, I traveled the world but nevertheless felt I had reached a dead end.

I often stayed in Japan. There somehow arose an openness to question the metaphysical assumptions of the culture I grew up in, and after an intense period of study, a realization dawned on me that turned my world upside down.

After a few years of inner cleaning, it started to itch and I picked up my pencil again.

Art gives us the gift of being able to penetrate deeper truths about ourselves and the world. The artist is assigned the task of sharing his or her deepest experience of reality.

Just as matter turns out to consist of emptiness according to quantum physics, the image of the painting dissolves in paint.

Illusion is inherent in art but does not need to dominate. The image can be a way of enticing the viewer to the painting and then discovering that the work stands on its own.

Walter Swennen puts it this way: 'Painting is impossible because it tends to lean either towards the image or towards the material of the painting. The painter tries to keep the painting in balance where both things meet.'

My interest lies not so much in theme or style, but in making work that can bring about a broader experience of reality in the viewer.

The artist makes the work, but the real content is in the viewer's perception.

Kobe Sabbe, July 2022

Kobe Sabbe Foto BIO

CV artistique et presse

Exhibitions

2023
Group expo ‘Hedendaagse Primitieven’, Bogardenkapel, Bruges (Belgium)

2022
Solo expo at Pauste Gallery, Ostend (Belgium)
Group expo ‘Fragile’, Belfort, Bruges (Belgium)

2021
Group expo ‘RAUM’, Belfort, Bruges (Belgium)

2019
Duo expo with Jean-Luc Bertel, Keunekapel, Koksijde (Belgium)
Solo expo 'Onderweg', keramiekatelier Perignem, Beernem (Belgium)

2018
Group expo with Emma Mortier and Frans Vandenheede, AZ Sint-Jan, Bruges (Belgium)

2017
Finalist 61st Onomichi Art Contest, Onomichi (Japan)

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