New exhibition: Construct

Construct: how images and meanings are built

From 26 September until 14 November 2026, Root Gallery presents Construct, a group exhibition with work by Antigoon, Dineke Van Oosten, Emma Veulemans, Saïd Kinos and Vincent de Boer.

The title refers both to the physical act of building an artwork and to the way meaning is formed. Across the exhibition, separate elements are brought together into new images, forms and narratives. Lines, layers, fragments, symbols and structures may offer direction, but never determine a single interpretation.

For Construct, Root Gallery brings together artists from the gallery programme with several invited guests, some of whom will be showing at the gallery for the first time.

Construct exhibition flyer featuring a colourful painting by Belgian artist Emma Veulemans at Root Gallery.

Building an image

The participating artists each approach construction differently. Some works develop through layering and repetition, while others begin with recognisable images, graphic forms or fragments of visual language. What connects them is an awareness that every image is assembled through a series of choices: what is included, removed, emphasised or left unresolved.

Constructing meaning

The exhibition also considers how viewers build their own understanding of an artwork. Familiar forms can lead to unexpected associations, while abstract elements may gradually begin to suggest a place, memory or narrative. Meaning is not presented as something fixed, but as something that develops through looking.

Invitation IV: Mel Chan

Running parallel to Construct is Invitation IV, a focused presentation of paintings by Mel Chan.

In her series Studies, Chan explores clouds, mist and atmospheric phenomena that can appear visually similar while carrying very different meanings. A cloud may resemble an explosion; drifting tear gas can take on the softness of mist. Her intimate paintings use this ambiguity to create space for wonder, uncertainty and unease.

Invitation is Root Gallery’s recurring series for artists whose work we have followed over time and would like to introduce within the gallery.