Antwerp’s Storied Zeno X Gallery to Shutter After 42 Years

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Antwerp’s Zeno X Gallery will close its doors in December 2023.

In a statement, co-founders Frank Demaegd and Eliane Breynaert attributed the decision to health issues affected by the stress and pressure of running a gallery.

Programming will continue as normal until the gallery closes at the end of December.

Belgian Newspaper De Morgen conveyed the news by stating ‘a bomb has exploded in the art world’.

S.M.A.K. Ghent director Philippe Van Cauteren described the closure as ‘nothing less than the end of an era.’

‘The past decades have been wonderful for Zeno X Gallery,’ said Demaegd and Breynaert, who established the gallery in 1981, occupying an early 20th-century townhouse in Antwerp South.

Early projects revolved around architecture and installations, working with artists such as John Körmeling, who created the drive-in Ferris wheel, Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven, and Patrick Van Caeckenbergh.

The gallery’s roster has since expanded to include a diverse selection of emerging and established artists.

These include international names such as Marlene Dumas, Luc Tuymans, Jack Whitten, Hyun-Sook Song, and Mark Manders, as well as celebrated Belgian fashion designer turned artist Martin Margiela.

Zeno X also co-represents the estate of Belgian abstractionist Raoul De Keyser with David Zwirner, and the estate of French Post-war and contemporary artist Cristof Yvoré.

‘With great pride and gratitude we look back on all the extraordinary exhibitions and the many encounters with inspiring people all over the world’, said Demaegd and Breynaert. —[O]

Main image: Zeno X Gallery, Godtsstraat 15 Borgerhout. Courtesy Zeno X Gallery.