Lou van ’t Riet grew up in Brussels where she studied design and architecture at the CAD (College of Art & Design) before leaving for her MFA at the  SVA (School of Visual Arts) in New York. Seduced by the city she will carry on living there until 2017; working for the Chamber Gallery and for the multidisciplinary artist Katie Stout.

These years allowed her to explore and enrich her network of artistic references through exhibitions, discussions with artist and art professionals. Through her work at the gallery, her personal wandering in museums, she started to observe closely the viewers attitude toward the exhibited works of art. She was struck by the distance that was existing between the viewer and the work. ‘Stand back’, ‘do not touch’ are amongst the injunctions that keep the viewer at that distance, preventing him to engage in what the artist sees as an essential connection with the work.

Through her creations Lou aims to fill the growing distance between the viewer and the work and break the ‘do not touch’ rule.
Her idea is to create a different approach to art where the viewer is summoned to engage and even interfere physically with the work – allowing him to go beyond the traditional rules of an institution. 

Written by Astrid Malingreau