Obels - Rubat: A Dialogue

Opera Gallery Madrid

11 September - 18 October 2025

The exhibition 'Obels – Rubat: A Dialogue' brings together the seemingly contrasting practices of Julien Rubat and Pieter Obels, yet reveals a compelling harmony between them. Rubat works with paper, collage, and pigment, creating layered compositions that feel both transient and fossilised. His process is cyclical and meditative, marked by repeated gestures of layering, erasure, and return. In contrast, Obels sculpts industrial Corten steel into organic, flowing forms that challenge its rigidity. His sculptures are meant to be experienced in space, encouraging movement around them and engagement over time.

Despite their different mediums, both artists share a sensitivity to material and process. Their works reflect a balance between control and surrender—allowing the unpredictable qualities of paper and steel to shape the final outcome. The dialogue between Rubat and Obels is not just between two artists, but between texture and mass, spontaneity and structure, stillness and motion. This exhibition invites viewers to witness that dialogue unfold in the space between the works, where the boundaries between painting and sculpture begin to blur.

Ultimately, 'Obels – Rubat: A Dialogue' offers a compelling reflection on how distinct artistic voices can converge to reveal new ways of seeing, sensing, and understanding form.

Detail of Julien Rubat, Painting 1001.96, 2025, Acrylic and paper on canvas, 62 x 52 cm; Pieter Obels, Tell me I never knew that, 2025, Corten steel on wooden base, 182 x 125 x 75 cm.