Guy Slabbinck

Contemporary Painter and Filmmaker

Guy Slabbinck is a Belgian contemporary painter whose work engages in an active dialogue with the history of European painting.

Born in the medieval city of Bruges, he studied graphic design at LUCA School of Arts in Ghent, developing his painterly practice outside traditional academic training in fine art. Immersing himself in the techniques and visual languages of masters such as Delacroix, Rubens, Velázquez, Goya, Ensor, Van Dyck, and Géricault, Slabbinck situates his work within a continuum of art history, embracing tradition as a living source rather than a static reference.

His painting process unfolds as a form of intuitive construction. Beginning with an undefined ground, he allows figures to emerge spontaneously from memory, then layers associations drawn from centuries of visual culture.

Through unexpected juxtapositions—Baroque gestures alongside Romantic sensibilities, echoes of Goya intersecting with Flemish still life he constructs compositions governed by a dreamlike internal logic.

The resulting works function as thresholds where historical imagery dissolves and recombines, creating new narrative and psychological possibilities.

Since 2018, Slabbinck has also worked in film, co-directing Standby Painter with Amir Yatziv. The documentary premiered at Visions du Réel in Switzerland and screened internationally at festivals including Docaviv, Krakow Film Festival, and the Brussels Art Film Festival.

His works are held in notable collections such as Orsi Academy, Collection R, and the Stichting Liedts Meesen Foundation.

For the exhibition Iconostasis, Slabbinck presents a three-week live painting performance, transforming an eight-by-four-meter canvas into a visual record shaped by his travels in Thailand.