+32 495 157 329
Represented by Jacques Cerami Gallery, Charleroi, BE

For Vincen Beeckman (b. 1973), collaboration is central. The photographer eschews the one-way photographer-subject relationship that defines so many photographic practices. Instead, he largely collaborates with marginalised and vulnerable individuals and provides visibility for communities otherwise unacknowledged.

Take Cracks (2020), a long-term project Beeckman began in 2014 in Brussels, Belgium, where he was born and still lives today. For this, Beeckman collaborated with a community of homeless individuals around Brussels’ Central Station. Facilitated by the alternative cultural centre Recyclart (and later published as a book by Void), where Beeckman previously worked, Cracks saw the photographer providing the community with disposable cameras. Instead of attempting to embed, he invited them to picture themselves, and the result is an unmediated record of their lives. The images are candid: documents of the exchanges between Beeckman and the community. And the connections between the homeless individuals themselves.

Beeckman's creative approach is intense. The people on whom his projects centre are not subjects. Instead, they become long-term collaborators and friends. However, for a fortnight each year, Beeckman resets. He flies to the US and road trips across it. The images he creates are different, focused on landscapes, and devoid of human subjects. He also photographs mini-golf courses — a hobby to which he is devoted.

Joy and lightness run through Beeckman's practice despite the challenging subjects he tackles. For instance, in his series Les Intimes (2014-ongoing), Beeckman photographed the Ansquer family: single-mother Marylène and her five children. He spent years capturing their daily lives in the former industrial town of Mons, Belgium. In reality, the family was struggling. But, Beeckman’s images hone in on their strength and vitality. Likewise, in La Devinière (2013-ongoing), the photographer collaborated with a historically ostracised group, allowing them to take ownership of their image. In 1956, La Devinière, occupying a farm bordering Farciennes and Fleurus in Belgium, was established to care for 19 young individuals experiencing mental health issues, many of whom remain today. The photographer visited the residence over several years. He worked alongside the residents to create an expressive and celebratory document of their otherwise marginalised lives.

The photographer’s work does not slip easily into a photographic genre. It is a constellation of many. Perhaps this is because Beeckman is a multi-faceted creative: an artist, a curator, and an educator. For instance, between 2014 and 2020, he organised the extra Fort evenings at Recyclart, collectively inviting hundreds of speakers to talk about photography across half a decade of themed evenings. And he also established the Fusée de la Motographie, a travelling museum of Belgian photography composed of 100 wooden boxes, each representing a different practitioner. Indeed, Beeckman is committed to facilitating exchanges and fostering creative communities in every element of his practice.

Hannah Abel-Hirsch, 2021.

selected solo shows

2025	(Forthcoming), image master of brussels (2022-2024), brussels, BE
2023	(Forthcoming), institut pour la photographie, lille, FR
2023	Ping Pong, FotoMuseum, Antwerp, BE
2023	anneessens, la conserverie, metz, FR
2022	si tu n'viens pas j'te scalpe, Arts et marges museum, Brussels, BE
2022	vevey minigolf club, Images Vevey festival, vevey, ch
2022	teen spirit, Espace Jörg Brockmann, geneva, ch
2022	on veut des zèbres pas des chèvres, Le Vecteur, Charleroi, BE
2022	Les cracks & Vincen Beeckman, Folkwang Museum, Essen, de
2021	Espinho, encontros da imagem festival, braga, pt
2021	Arts20+1 Vincen Beeckman, Woluminigolf (Wolubilis), Brussels, be
2020	Partout ailleurs on dirait Marseille, ZEF, Manifesta Marseille, FR
2020	Splendid, Vooruit Kunstencentrum, Ghent, BE
2019	Claude et Lilly, Cerami gallery, Charleroi, BE
2019	Histoires Belges, ZEF, Photo Festival Marseille, FR
2019	Local Fototek Foundation, Recyclart, Brussels, BE
2018	Espinho, Tique Art Space, Antwerp, BE
2018	Eric et moi, Office d’Art Contemporain, Brussels, BE
2018	Je pense que vous êtes plusieurs, Le Château d’Eau, Toulouse, FR
2018	Resto chinois (Part II), Eté 78 gallery, Brussels, BE
2018	A Castle Made of Sand, Fondation A Stichting, Brussels, BE
2016	Si tu ne viens pas je te scalpe, Galerie Jacques Cerami, Charleroi, BE

selected group shows

2023	ectoplasmes, ateliers jeanne barret, marseille, fr
2022	Teen Spirit, BPS22, Charleroi, BE
2022	fictions modestes & réalités augmentées, MUSÉE INTERNATIONAL DES ARTS MODESTES, sète, FR
2022	von menschen und raümen, ST WENDEL MUSEUM, sankt wendel, DE
2021	Bruxelles Universelle – Multupli.city, Centrale For Contemporary Art, Brussels, BE
2019	Amour, No’Photo, Geneva Photography biennial, CH
2019	The invisible Cowboy, Le Hangar, Brussels Photo Festival, BE
2018	Dry and Spicy, A Galerie, (with Alex Webb), Brussels, BE
2017	Marge, FotoFabrik Bln Bxl gallery, (with Frederico Azevedo), Berlin, DE
2017	Private Choices, La Centrale électrique, Brussels, BE
2016	The Gang, Summer of Photography Biennale BOZAR, Brussels, BE
2016	Next Generation Please, BOZAR, Brussels, BE
2015	Atopolis, (curated by Wiels), Mons European culture capital

selected books

2023	pong ping, published by FotoMuseum Antwerp
2022	jump the wall, published by Photo Elysee
2022	la devinière - si tu ne viens pas je te scalpe -, published by delpire & co
2022	on veut des zèbres pas des chèvres (with Nicolas Polli), published by Ciao Press
2022	teen Spirit, published by BPS22/ICVL Studio
2021	birds of a feather opstap, published by APE
2021	espinho, published by intimate structure
2021	Les éternels (with Nicolas Polli), published by Ciao Press
2020	Cracks, published by VOID
2020	Le petit Rempart, published by Macaroni Books
2020	Filip Anneessens, published by Recyclart
2019	Claude et Lilly, published by APE

public space exhibitions

2021	Pikuur, (Solo show curated by Centrale for Contemporary Art), Saint-Pierre Hospital, Brussels, BE
2021	Kiel, Fotomuseum Antwerp, BE
2007	Metro Station Anneessens, Brussels, BE

awards, grants and residencies

2023	Ateliers Jeanne Barret "Viens je t’emmène où les nuages tristes vont s’amuser" (Residency)
2022	Prix Elysée 2022-2024 (selected nominee)
2021	Grand Prix Image Vevey (Shortlisted)
2020	Bourse Futur pour la Culture, Fédération Wallonie Bruxelles (Grant)
2018	Platform Project, Fotomuseum Winterthur, CH (Selected Artist and final nominee)

collections

Folkwang Museum, Essen, de

Foto Museum, Antwerp, be

Fondation A Stichting, Brussels, be

Le Château d'Eau, toulouse, fr

Eté 78, Brussels, be

Musées des beaux arts de charleroi, be

Parlement de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, be

banque nationale, be

Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, be

La Space collection, Liège, be

private collections

others

2002 - 2020	Visual Arts artistic Director, Educational Facilitator, Recyclart, Brussels, BE
2020	Eating manifesto, “A dinner with Franky and Johnny”, Recyclart, Brussels, BE
2014 - 2020	Extra Fort (series of photography - themed evenings - invitation of 240 photographers / editors / curators) Recyclart, Tipi Bookshop, Pinguin Space Project, Botanique, CFC, Brussels, BE
2014 - 2020	Fusée de la Motographie (Travelling Photography Museum) – Founder and performer Fotofestiwal Lodz Pologne, CNA Luxembourg, C/O Berlin, Le Bal Paris, FOtoMUseum Antwerpen, Wiels
2019	Performance show with Marie Papazoglou “Soirée Belge” Rencontres de la Photographie, Temple Arles Books, Arles, FR
2019	Workshops, Summer Camp Photography, ISSP Festival, Riga, LV
2007 - 2015	“Fotomaton” (Moving Human Photobooth – 14000 pictures collected), Brussels, BE
2010 - 2013	“Bewoner van de Maand”, Participative project in collaboration with Netwerk, Aalst, BE