DICTU x Victor Verhelst
Commissioned permanent art integration for the Dutch government
PLUS-ONE Projects collaborated with DICTU, the Dutch government’s IT and digital services organisation in The Hague, on a permanent art integration by Victor Verhelst titled ‘FALLEN SUNDOWN’.
Commissioned for a central circulation zone within the DICTU building, the work is conceived as a visual anchor for staff and visitors, embedding contemporary digital art directly into the daily environment of a governmental service provider.
As curatorial and coordinating partner, PLUS-ONE translated DICTU’s ambition to connect infrastructure, information and innovation with culture into a concrete, long‑term artwork. We guided the process from initial briefing and concept development to technical integration, ensuring that ‘FALLEN SUNDOWN’ aligns with safety, durability and institutional protocols while still retaining the speculative, luminous character of Verhelst’s digital worlds.
The collaboration underscores how governmental buildings can function as living cultural spaces rather than neutral backdrops.
By treating DICTU’s corridors and meeting areas as sites for sustained artistic encounter, PLUS-ONE helped position public digital infrastructure side‑by‑side with artistic imagination, making contemporary art part of how a government agency presents itself to employees, partners and citizens.
About Victor Verhelst
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Victor Verhelst (b. 1997, Belgium) is a Belgian visual artist whose multidisciplinary practice moves fluidly between digital image making, print media, textile installation, and interactive technologies.
His work explores the boundaries between the virtual and the physical, examining how digital aesthetics can take on a tangible form.
After cofounding the visual collective Les Monseigneurs, Verhelst left the collective in June 2020 to pursue his independent artistic path.
Since then, he has collaborated on projects for PUBLIEK PARK by Young Friends v/h S.M.A.K. in Ghent, Stroom.TV, in Ostend, Kiosk Radio in Brussels, Permekemuseum in Jabbeke, Europalia, Toneelhuis, Kunsthal Mechelen, CORE Festival, Nuits Sonores, BOZAR, Fedustria, Kunsthaus NRW, Kunsthal Mechelen, Abrupt Festival, BADAFF and many others.
At the core of Verhelst’s autonomous work lies his ongoing digital world building project, which began as the series Trippy Vegas and later evolved into Toxic Hawaii. This growing body of work imagines a hybrid, ever expanding virtual cityscape filled with vivid, hyper saturated architecture and surreal urban spaces. By distorting and layering two dimensional and three dimensional image planes, Verhelst creates chromatic environments where the digital and the physical merge into one another.
Material experimentation plays a central role in his process. His digital canvases often translate into risograph prints, three dimensional objects, wall tapestries, textile works, and immersive installations. Each piece investigates how the immaterial digital image can be reinterpreted through texture, tactility, and spatial experience. Beyond his autonomous practice, Verhelst continues to collaborate with musicians and cultural institutions, designing record sleeves, live visuals, and spatial concepts that extend his visual language into performance and sound.
His recent projects include visuals for Gerard, the musical project of Elias Durnez, and design collaborations with Nele De Gussem, along with immersive textile installations such as Starlight Shine, presented at an international design fair in Frankfurt. Through all of these media, Verhelst reflects on how digital culture shapes perception, emotion, and material reality, turning the light of the screen into a tactile and architectural presence.
Selected list of commissioned graphic works: Bozar, Z33, Young Friends van S.M.A.K., BADAFF, Productiehuis Panenka, Permekemuseum, RESET BXL, Kiosk Radio, Border Buda, Muller Van Severen, Fritz Kola , Viernulvier, Toneelhuis, Wintercircus, Uitgeverij Klein, Uitgeverij Hannibal, Platenlabel Stroom, L.CARAX, ALbe De Coker, Paula Hartmann, Het Entrepot, Stad Brugge, Nuits Sonores, GAFPA, Nele De Gussem, Arkaoda Berlin, Publiek Park, Komplot BXL, LUCA School of Arts, OPAL U.S., Café Costume, Benjamin Abel Meirhaeghe, Woodblocks Festival, Abrupt Festival, Tijl Uilenspiegelmuseum, Elders Collectief, TrendWolves, Kunsthal Mechelen, Proeftuin, Us By Night, Nest Damme.
Selected group exhibitions: C-Mine (Alumni Luca), Hyperlab (exposant + Concert ‘Gerard’), Ontsteking Gent, Mia-H, Wonder, We Are The Next Generation, Kunsthal Gent (Les Monseigneurs),019 (Billboard + Vlag), SPOOR, Talking Textiles New York, Trienal Design Covilhã, Triennale di Milano, Designfest Gent, Designmuseum Gent, Rufus Gallery, Plus-One Projects, Heimtextil Frankfurt, Asfalt Gent, Kunsthaus NRW Aachen (2025).
Selected solo exhibitions: Rufus Gallery, Plus-One Projects, Musei Di Civici, Como, Bruthaus Gallery, Scharpoord Knokke.
