For his fifth solo exhibition at Gallery FIFTY ONE, Belgian artist Bruno V. Roels (°1976) presents new work and delves further into the possibilities of the analog photographic process. In ‘Woke Up Laughing’, his images navigate between aesthetics and experimentation, escapism and a historical, social consciousness.

Inspired by artists like John Baldessari (1931-2020) and Ed Ruscha (°1937), who approached photography in a conceptual manner, Roels also questions the properties of the image: how it operates, influences, and deceives. What defines photography as photography? And how do viewers interpret it, in an era marked by image manipulation and production, where visual communication sets the tone? These are significant questions embedded in his body of work.