Vincent Solheid (Malmedy, Belgium, 1968) is an atypical and protean artist who defies categorisation. His work presents the challenge of defining a man in perpetual motion, a draftsman whose behaviour is as unfathomable as his poetics of the enigma, which resist identification within conventional art world registers. Solheid’s practice continually engages with questions of direction, meaning, and the unseen. As a masked heir to James Ensor, Fantômas, and Louis de Funès, Solheid is a multifaceted artist—draftsman, painter, walker, filmmaker, altar boy, performer, master of movement, wandering actor, singer of breaded hosts, cyclist, screenwriter, and president of a carnival band.

Above all, he remains a visual artist deeply engaged with the tragic interplay between the myths of departure and return.

The project *Nekuia, Treffen In Berlin* is the culmination of Solheid’s work during his residency at LCG_ARTLAB. It revisits and expands upon a series of paintings created following the death of his brother eight years ago. These paintings depict a recurring scene from a family film in which a man ascends a hill, holding a child’s hand. Driven to recreate this scene daily for a year after his brother’s death, Solheid reveals that the figures are his grandfather and brother, now buried together in the family grave.

In his exploration of the mysteries of death and transition, Solheid found profound inspiration in Wim Wenders’ masterpieces *Wings of Desire* and *Faraway, So Close!*. The narratives of angels yearning to become human intertwine with the story of two significant figures in Solheid’s life who have passed away, potentially becoming angels themselves. This oscillation between the realms of the living and the dead is vividly realised in Solheid’s work, where Wenders’ imagery and Solheid’s paintings merge, complemented by evocative quotations that enhance this convergence of worlds.

Solheid’s research has been further enriched by Belgian philosopher of science Vinciane Despret’s book *Au bonheur des morts*. Despret’s investigation into how the dead enter the lives of the living and the creative dynamics between them has influenced Solheid. Inspired by Despret’s exploration, Solheid began to perceive his departed loved ones in various places throughout Berlin, leading to a new series of works that combine snapshots taken during his city explorations with the silhouettes of his brother and grandfather.

Additionally, a collaboration with fellow Artist in Residence at LCG_ARTLAB, Croatian-Canadian multimedia artist Anja Musura (b. 1989), resulted in two videos. Musura’s works offer a free interpretation influenced by the family film, Wenders’ masterpieces, and the evocative concept of the exhibition.

Presented during Berlin Art Week 2024 at LCG_ARTLAB’s main gallery, the exhibition features a fully immersive installation. Paintings, quotes, videos, and collages envelop the exhibition space, with the front room representing the past, present, and future, and the back room represent the evolution, showcasing the collaborative pieces by Musura. This immersive environment underscores the idea that even in death, the people we love continue to surround us, often more persistently than when they were alive, accompanying those left behind through every step of their existence.