Thinking Models & Night Diary Drawings

Jan Fabre. Thinking Models & Night Diary Drawings

Curated by Katerina Koskina

Duration: November 11 – December 31, 2026
Opening: November 11, 2026, 19:00 – 22:00

Crux Galerie is delighted to present, starting November 11, 2026, the second solo exhibition of the visionary Flemish artist Jan Fabre, curated by art historian Katerina Koskina, titled Jan Fabre. Thinking Models & Night Diary Drawings. The exhibition aims to provide viewers with an insider’s insight into Fabre’s thought process, revealing his enduring engagement with themes such as artistic freedom, the imperative to protect art, and the significance of memory and lived experience. Within the gallery space, works from two bodies of work from the 1990s enter into dialogue.

As noted by the curator: “The four Thinking models are characterized by the use of mixed media, with cement as their primary constituent element. In essence, the Thinking Models are presented as rooms inaccessible to anyone—a kind of personal mental sanctuary where the artist presents visionary plans for the protection of art and its people. These works simultaneously reveal his complex modes of thought and hold a particularly significant place in his oeuvre, as they were created at the onset of his artistic maturity and remain timely. Moreover, they largely represent ‘crystallizations’ of his lived experiences and intentions. This series began in the early 1990s when, as a young artist, he offered shelter in his studio to Chilean migrants. These four works were shown in 2006 at the Flemish Parliament in Brussels as part of the exhibition Denkmodellen (Thinking Models), curated by Flor Bex, in their only public presentation prior to this one at Crux Galerie.”

“The common denominator of both series is the search for the thread connecting the artist’s occult, private microcosms to the artworks. Yet while the Thinking Models evoke enclosed, underground shelter spaces for protection and contemplation, the Night Diary Drawings expose the artist’s thoughts and reflections through written word and image. Both bodies of work function as periscopes into inaccessible realms, challenging the viewer to discover the secret and ineffable bond between the artist’s inner world and his creative practice.”

Regarding the Night Diary Drawings series, the curator notes: “Jan Fabre is the first artist to have systematically and continuously used the common Bic pen to create works of art up to this day, beginning in the late 1970s when he was not yet 20 years old. Although his choice was initially driven by financial and practical reasons—since using a Bic on paper provided an affordable and manageable medium of expression—he went on to apply this practice to far more complex works, large-scale installations, poetic actions, and even performances, paving the way for many other artists.

The monochromatic works in this series are captured as the artist’s “aphorisms”— reflections on art, its function, and its role. These works are being exhibited for the first time at Crux and are part of the ongoing Night Diary Drawings series, a continuous endeavor of literary and visual creation that began in the late 1970s and continues to this day.”

Jan Fabre dedicates both this exhibition and his upcoming cycle of four monologues at the Stathmos Theatre in Athens (November 6–21, 2026) to the memory of Denys Zacharopoulos (1952–2026)—beloved friend, distinguished art historian, curator, and intellectual, with whom he shared a decades-long dialogue and a profound belief in artistic freedom.