Hans Vandekerckhove, The Visitor, 2005

Belgian artist Hans Vandekerckhove works to transform “everyday reality into a poetic world of motionless beauty”. This idea is perfectly exemplified in his 2005 painting, The Visitor, which depicts a lone figure, dressed in white, gazing intently into a greenhouse filled with sunflowers. In spite of its familiar subject matter, Vandekerckhove’s luminous colour palette and abstracted detailing lend the work an intriguing, unearthly quality, reminiscent of a stylish seventies sci-fi film—and the effect is undeniably transportive.