BRECHT VANDENBROUCKE

The Most

Over the past decade, the work of visual artist, graphic novelist and art professor Brecht Vandenbroucke has graced the virtual and paper pages of The New York Times, Variety, Le Monde, Humo, Adult Swim, Wired, Têtu and many more. Fashion quickly came calling too as he has created shirt prints for Prada and collaborated with Walter Van Beirendonck, Diesel and Lacoste. As a cultural reflector and narrator, Brecht mirrors every little detail and perversion of our existence through hand-painted comic strips and fills them with candour and pop iconography. His signature style is unfettered by any medium, standing out on a giant painting as well as a skateboard deck. After the impact of his 2013 debut visual album ‘White cube’, Brecht has just released his second graphic novel ‘Shady’, a self-defined transitional book that delves into morality and our inability at self-reflection. On this episode of The Most, Brecht lays out his story from early farm life to running a precocious publishing house as a kid. He also opens up about having to mature quickly as a teen, why he took a break from pop culture once and how reading Joseph Campbell connected the dots for him to parse out cultural narratives. He talks dealing with the tension between chaos and order, holistic world views and the challenge behind weaving the ‘Shady’ storyline. Hear how the acclaimed artist works to figure out his own art, future ambitions and the importance of humility and self-improvement. Follow Brecht here. Buy ‘Shady’ online via Bries Publishing here. You can visit the expo ‘Assembled Stories’ featuring the work of Brecht Vandenbroucke and Sarah Pschorn from May 15 till June 20 2021 at Galerie 10a.

Brecht Vandenbroucke's work is part of the permanent collection of the MiMa museum in Brussels.