Known for his clever reinterpretation of everyday objects, D.D. Trans (b. 1963, Belgium) masterfully blends minimalism with a playful, surreal edge. By transforming common items like toys, household goods, and industrial materials through subtle interventions, he challenges our perception of their function and meaning.
Drawing inspiration from places like hardware stores and bazaars, D.D. Trans redefines the mundane, raising thought-provoking questions about the relationship between objects and their significance. His light-hearted yet profound approach invites viewers to see beyond the surface, infusing his work with a quiet sense of rebellion and underlying nostalgia.
What often begins with modest interventions results in works that surprise and disarm. By isolating familiar objects from their everyday roles, he exposes the hidden logic and overlooked poetry embedded in their design. D.D. Trans invites us to pause and reconsider the objects we encounter daily, revealing layers of wit, elegance, or quiet absurdity within the ordinary. At times formal, at others playful or even gently subversive, his work consistently offers a fresh perspective on the seemingly trivial.
While his interventions are minimal, their impact is precise. A fly swatter adorned with a solitary red target dot, a feather duster neatly inserted into the barrel of a hairdryer, or a detergent bottle repurposed in uncanny green – each work creates a pause, a sideways glance at the everyday. These are not grand statements, but subtle recalibrations. By shifting an object just enough out of context, D.D Trans unlocks the dormant visual logic hidden within it. The result is a kind of restrained surrealism – one rooted in the poetry of common things.
Already in the early 1990s, D.D. Trans' distinctive work found recognition when he exhibited at the influential Richard Foncke Gallery in Ghent, a key platform for contemporary art in Belgium at the time. His works are part of prestigious collections, including Museum Voorlinden (Wassenaar, The Netherlands), M HKA (Antwerp, Belgium), and Collezione La Gaia (Busca, Italy).
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2025
(Forthcoming) Adore, Mulier Mulier Gallery, Knokke
Visionair Verzameld, KMSKA, Antwerp
2024
Passe-Partout, Mulier Mulier Gallery, Brussels
F**klore - Abby, Kortrijk
Wat zou Marcel Broodthears doen?, Museum Jan Cunen, Oss (NL)
2023
Lightness -- CC De Ververij, Ronse
Kunst langs trage wegen (curator Jan Leysen), Sint-Denijs-City
Circles & Ovals, Gallery Ramakers, The Hague
In het spoor van Van Gogh (curator Johan Tahon), Korsele
2022
Au Contraire, Mulier Mulier Gallery, Knokke
Overdose, Design Museum Holon Israel (collection Galila's P.O.C. Brussels)
À Propos, La Traverse, Marseille
Sous les pavés la plage, Mulier Mulier Gallery, Knokke
Hof Van Cleve (curator Chris Martin), Kruisem
Making Fun, De Warande, Turnhout
This is half a bath, Mulier Mulier Gallery, Knokke
2021
Fuck You, Kunstenhuis, Harelbeke
PASS 2021 (curator Kris Martin & Jan Hoet Jr., Mullem, Huise, Wannegem-Lede
Wake-Up Call blijven liggen/ laten staan (curator Lieze Eneman & Luk Lambrecht), Platform 6A, Otegem
After All, A Collection Is Only Human, Villa Vandenbusssche, Tielt (in collaboration with Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens
2020
Côté à Cóté, Geukens & De Vil, Knokke
2019
Tout Court Inbox, M HKA, Antwerp
Imagine-Imaginer, Gallery Valerie Traan, Antwerp
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Museum Voorlinden, Wassenaar, The Netherlands
M HKA (Museum of Contemporary Art), Antwerp, Belgium
Collezione La Gaia, Busca, Italy
