Neo romanticism is the first solo exhibition by Max Kesteloot (b. 1990, BE) at Valerius Gallery, following the start of their collaboration in 2024. The exhibition presents a series of paintings that explore the space between memory and imagination. Neo Romanticism invites viewers to pause and reflect on the quiet beauty of the fleeting.

Drawing from a personal archive of video fragments, Polaroids, and photographs collected along the road, Kesteloot captures fleeting, often overlooked moments. These images serve as raw material before being carefully transformed into paintings.

The resulting works reveal themselves slowly, echoing the way nostalgia reshapes memory, offering just enough detail to spark recognition, but never enough to fully define the moment.