This film documents the live plein air performance by Belgian artist Nils Verkaeren, held on April 19, 2025, in Knokke as part of his solo exhibition Tidal Flux at Buysse Gallery. The performance was advanced due to weather conditions, allowing Verkaeren to respond directly to the shifting elements of the coastline in real time.
The resulting work, The Tide and the Tempest (2025), is a large-scale triptych (170 x 270 x 3 cm) that embodies the core themes of the exhibition: movement, impermanence, and the dialogue between body, material, and landscape. Painted on the beach, the piece captures not a static image, but the act of presence-gesture shaped by tide, light, and wind.
Tidal Flux marks Verkaeren's first major exhibition with Buysse Gallery, a contemporary space located in Knokke-Heist, Belgium, dedicated to process-driven practices and site-responsive work. The gallery's program explores the intersections of painting, materiality, and context-reflected in this collaboration with Verkaeren.
The film offers a glimpse into Verkaeren's method: committed, physical, and immediate. It is not only a record of a single performance, but a testament to his broader approach-where painting is a lived encounter with place.
