De Barones Sexshop
Mathieu Meijers, Kenichi Ogawa
26. – 29.03.2026
De Barones Sexshop sells a range of erotic products and accessories — but it is much more than that. Its owner, Soraina, is a well-known figure in Charlois with a deep appreciation for art. During the festival, the shop became a point of contact between first-time visitors and artists, as the exhibition — featuring work by Mathieu Meijers and Kenichi Ogawa — engaged directly with the space itself.
In the words of De Barones: "Art and sex, they connect very much. Both are emotional."
Meijers presents pages from two book works, Home (2009–2011) and Oh Boy (2014–2017), alongside pieces from the mural series Painters Studio (Black Light) (2018–2019). His drawings move between abstraction and figuration, layering saturated colour, geometric pattern, and metallic surfaces — gold leaf, palladium, silver, and copper — into compositions rich with tactile, physical presence. Recurring rectangular forms and shifting diamond grids suggest screens, windows, and thresholds, unfolding page by page into a larger accumulative rhythm.
Meijer's work was also present in two other locations: Home Gallery and Art Rotterdam.
Kenichi Ogawa's small-scale ceramics and paintings centre on sight and touch — the pressing, molding, and breaking of clay that shapes each unique form. Rooted in the traditions of Japanese calligraphy and ceramics, his work replicates everyday objects and moments, treating them as quiet memorials to the present.
His current work explores the theme of "Hot Spring," where animals become human and humans become animal — figures dissolving into peaceful heads above steaming water, growing smaller and simpler. Ogawa's work aims to stay light, reminding us that we have bodies, that we do small things, and that these small things matter in a spinning world.
Artworks:
Kenichi Ogawa, Voices of Mountain, 2026
Kenichi Ogawa, Listen to the Voice, 2019
Mathieu Meijers, Zuivering, 2023
Mathieu Meijers, Broeder, 2001–2008
Kenichi Ogawa's works were presented in collaboration with Galerie Mieke van Schaijk.
Mathieu Meijers' works were presented in collaboration with Van Abbehuis.
Mathieu Meijers (1951) is a Dutch artist based in Eindhoven. Since 2002, Mathieu has been making ‘drawings’ in both mural and book format. The works have a graphic appearance and emphasize the regurgitation between painting and drawing.
Kenichi Ogawa was born in 1969 and lives and works in Aichi Prefecture. Graduated from Aichi Prefectural College of Art, He has been a long-time artist at Kenji Taki gallery (Tokyo/ Nogoya, Japan). He had several exhibitons like: 2023, Kenji Taki Gallery (Tokyo), 2021, City Hekinan Museum (JP), 2019, “Weightless” with Peter McDonald, Mieke van Schaijk 2018, “I Say Yesterday, You Hear Tomorrow. Visions From Japan” Gallerie delle prigioni, Treviso (IT) 2017, “Art Obulist” Okura Park, Obu-city, Aici (JP) Seoul City Museum (Korea). 2013 Art Zuid, International sculpture Route Amsterdam, Public Collection Voorlinden Museum, Wassenaar (NL). Kenichi Ogawa is represented by Galerie Mieke van Schaijk 2016.
Galerie Mieke van Schaijk hangs as a bespoke dress in the small yet sturdy Dutch
wardrobe in the city of ‘s-Hertogenbosch. Completely unique, and delicate in detail, it
is a piece that follows no generic pattern in favor of the risk to be something other. Not
simple/easy to hold, (and why should it?) the fabric is woven with an idiosyncratic thread, with an imaginative approach. Appliquéing artistic visions since 2012 and hemmed by the stitch of contemporary, the program cuts a shape proportioned meticulously through the ‘savoir-faire’ of balancing asymmetric creative practices, unafraid to be bejeweled, sheer, or figure-hugging [Text by Fiona Mackay].
Van Abbehuis is a house for contemporary art. The name is derived from the history of the space, located in the former residential villa of the Van Abbe family across from their museum. The exhibitions and public programme don't operate separately, but relate through the rooms that take shape through the public domain. The infrastructure of the space guides the way in which the exhibitions and residencies are carried out: the multifunctional spaces with architectural elements are based on the former residential function: a gallery space, a working office, a library, a café, and a garden.