What will your pleasure be?

For his first solo exhibition at Rufus Gallery, Nicolas Keppens draws on characters and motifs from fairy tales and animated films, with the genie from Aladdin as the central figure. Keppens presents a new range of imaginary sculptures, installations and drawings. Here, the genie appears as the ultimate pleaser: a character who fulfils desires, yet remains trapped in that role himself. From this tension, What will your pleasure be? explores conformist behaviour, dependency and the hidden labour behind what others desire. At the same time, the exhibition examines Aladdin as a story in motion: a narrative that has been passed down, rewritten and adapted over time. This shift, too, takes on a tragicomic dimension in Keppens’ work.