https://aldovandenbroek.nl aldovandenbroek Thu, 27 Apr 2023 08:22:03 +0000 https://aldovandenbroek.nl en https://aldovandenbroek.nl/Homepage-2 Thu, 27 Apr 2023 08:22:03 +0000 aldovandenbroek https://aldovandenbroek.nl/Homepage-2 <img width="2862" height="3962" width_o="2862" height_o="3962" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/defa1a3f48de43b1238d115c55ba69b39c093fb1efa85d12921e5e31d1a2738f/IMG_6652.jpg" data-mid="225135617" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/defa1a3f48de43b1238d115c55ba69b39c093fb1efa85d12921e5e31d1a2738f/IMG_6652.jpg" /> Work in progress | SOON to be released l&nbsp;Zona Maco Artfair l 2025 l Mexico City ‘Lotería de los Muertos’In Lotería de los Muertos, Aldo van den Broek transforms discarded fragments of Mexico City into visceral explorations of resilience, fragility, and renewal. Using materials such as cardboard, wood, fabric, and soil—scarred by time and neglect—Van den Broek reconstructs these remnants into layered works that embody cycles of destruction and rebirth. Each piece, created in a consistent 50 x 40 cm format, evokes the intimacy and universality of a card game, positioning these works as archetypes of human struggle and survival. “Living on the margins teaches you one thing: nothing is permanent. The city spits these materials out, and I rebuild them—not to save them, but to show how little control we really have,” Van den Broek explains. For the self-taught artist, creation emerges from destruction. His process of layering, scraping, and rebuilding leaves every surface raw and alive, mirroring the city’s rhythms of decay and reinvention. The scarred textures of his works reflect both personal histories and collective struggles, transforming discarded matter into objects of reflection and renewal. At the heart of the exhibition are archetypes inspired by Mexico’s lotería&nbsp;and&nbsp;Día de los Muertostraditions. Figures such as&nbsp;El Rebelde&nbsp;(The Rebel), a crowd surging in protest, and&nbsp;El Conquistador(The Conqueror), a lone figure on horseback, explore cycles of rebellion and power.&nbsp;La Muerte&nbsp;(Death), represented by a haunting pile of skulls, speaks to the inevitability of mortality, while&nbsp;La Ofrenda&nbsp;(The Offering), a bouquet of salvaged flowers, symbolizes resilience and remembrance. Other works, such as&nbsp;La Revelación&nbsp;(The Revelation), where a figure is illuminated by otherworldly light, and&nbsp;El Exilio&nbsp;(The Exile), a solitary man with a bottle of mezcal in a desolate landscape, capture the tension between loss and the search for meaning. The consistent format of the works draws directly from the structure of lotería, the iconic Mexican card game, where archetypes and chance reflect universal struggles. “It’s like a global&nbsp;lotería&nbsp;now,” Van den Broek notes. “The cards keep turning up worse: death, rebellion, conquest. And the deck feels stacked against us.” Each piece operates as both a fragment of a larger narrative and a standalone meditation on survival and transformation. Van den Broek’s practice positions him as a chronicler of instability and endurance, drawing from the cultural and historical fabric of Mexico City while addressing global fractures—political unrest, ecological collapse, and the fragility of human systems. Yet, his works also suggest moments of fragile renewal. Their scarred, weathered surfaces transform spaces into immersive reflections on what remains when systems fail—and how we might begin again from the ruins. By embedding the concept of lotería&nbsp;into his practice, Van den Broek creates a seamless connection between cultural specificity and universal resonance. Together, these works form a profound meditation on collapse, renewal, and the enduring human capacity to rebuild from the fragments of a broken world. Homecoming GalleryDUO presentation with Johnny Mae HauserZona Maco Artfair, 2025, Mexico City, Mexico February 5 until February 9, 2025 https://aldovandenbroek.nl/About Wed, 05 Oct 2022 18:43:22 +0000 aldovandenbroek https://aldovandenbroek.nl/About &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;<img width="1868" height="2446" width_o="1868" height_o="2446" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c24166ee24d702653ce44bfeb4a6b3766319b18fbd6ca55a881881a159fbf657/IMG_0597.jpg" data-mid="207672217" border="0" data-scale="14" data-no-zoom src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c24166ee24d702653ce44bfeb4a6b3766319b18fbd6ca55a881881a159fbf657/IMG_0597.jpg" />Aldo van den Broek painter / sculptor 7.7.1985 Delft The Netherlands Aldo van den Broek is a self-taught artist whose work captures the fragile cycles of decay, transformation, and renewal. Shaped by life on the margins, he explores the impermanence of systems—societal, political, and personal—and the resilience that emerges in their collapse. For Aldo, decay is not an end, but a quiet moment of transition where strength and beauty reveal themselves in the ruins. Through discarded materials like cardboard, wood, metal, and fabric, van den Broek transforms fragments marked by time into layered, textured works. His process of scraping and rebuilding mirrors the cycles of destruction and regeneration, with each scarred surface holding the weight of history and the possibility of renewal. These materials, imbued with their own stories, act as metaphors for the fragility and persistence of identity. Figures emerge from his fractured surfaces as archetypes—rebellion, mortality, power—inviting viewers into a dialogue about survival, identity, and the tension between control and chaos. Van den Broek’s works reflect deeply personal experiences while resonating universally, asking: What remains when systems fail? And how do we rebuild meaning from the wreckage? Rooted in materiality and emotion, van den Broek’s practice transforms decay into revelation, challenging us to see beauty not in permanence, but in what persists after collapse.