The Blue Boy I Keep In My Basement, 2026 — Remi Vanden Bossche

By Remi Vanden Bossche

Painting · 100 × 65 × 3 cm

In this piece, the viewer peers into a room where a frightened blue boy cowers in the corner, illuminated by the light spilling through a partially opened door. This "blue boy" represents the emotions that many men—including myself—have been conditioned to suppress or ignore due to societal expectations and outdated ideals of masculinity. By depicting these emotions as a child locked away from the world, rarely exposed to the light except through a narrow opening in the door, the work speaks to the long-term consequences of emotional repression. The figure's unnatural blue skin keeps the subje