Hangar presents MAURICE, Tristesse et rigolade by Belgian photographer Charlotte Abramow

Charlotte Abramow, born in 1993 in Brussels (Belgium), has been interested in images from a very young age. At 16, during an internship at the Rencontres d’Arles (France), she met Paolo Roversi (1947), an Italian fashion and portrait photographer. The following year, he wrote an article about her images entitled La fragilité et l’âme d’une guerrière published in Polka Magazine in 2011.

In 2013, Abramow moved to Paris to study at Gobelins, l’École de l’Image. She becomes interested in exploring the relationship with the body, women, and life stages by staging elements in an absurd way within a surreal world.

At 24, Abramow took charge of the visual direction of the project BROL by Belgian singer Angèle, for which she created all the photographs. During this artistic collaboration, she made her first steps as a director with La Loi de Murphy and Je Veux Tes Yeux. Later, she would also direct the music video Balance ton Quoi

In autumn 2018, her first book was published: MAURICE, Tristesse et rigolade about her father’s illness (Éditions Fisheye), funded by 777 contributors on Kickstarter in 2016. At the same time, the photographer exhibited her series “They love Trampoline” at Paris Photo with Galerie Fisheye in 2018.

About the exhibition

MAURICE, Tristesse et rigolade tells the story of a struggle—one man’s battle with illness—and of a rebirth, carried by the love of a daughter. Somewhere between documentary storytelling and surreal tale, this visual and poetic narrative resonates as a timeless tribute from Belgian photographer Charlotte Abramow to her father, Maurice.

For the first time, this intimate work takes the form of an immersive exhibition, presented at Hangar.

Maurice was the very first model Charlotte photographed in a studio. At 17, she already sensed that photography would guide her life, without imagining that her father would later become the heart of her first book. Published in 2018 thanks to the support of 777 contributors, MAURICE, Tristesse et rigolade came to life after Maurice’s death, who would never see its release.

Seven years later, Charlotte Abramow revisits this project with renewed strength. Through this exhibition, she rekindles the memory of an extraordinary man: a doctor, a teacher, a Jewish child hidden during the war—but above all, a father full of tenderness, wit, and imagination. Drawing from family archives, the exhibition unfolds a deeply human story, balancing humor and emotion.

Can we say Maurice’s life ended on a high note? If love is the measure, then surely, yes. Faced with illness and the aftermath of a post-anoxic coma, Charlotte transformed hardship into creation. Together, father and daughter invented a new language—gestures, glances, silent complicity... Maurice’s gaze, captured by the photographer, becomes both mirror and messenger. He is the muse, she the artist. Together, they wove an intimate, enchanting, luminous tale.

MAURICE, Tristesse et rigolade is the story of an unbreakable bond, of a love that refuses to fade. A story of transmission, of artistic revelation. Did Maurice know that in those suspended moments, between laughter and tears, his daughter was taking her first steps as an artist? And that by offering himself to her lens, he was passing on a treasure—the gift of self-discovery, of creation, and of building a profoundly personal work.

Charlotte Abramow
MAURICE, Tristesse et rigolade
19.09.2025 > 21.12.2025
Press preview: 17 September at 2pm - in the presence of Charlotte Abramow
Vernissage: 18 September from 5:30pm to 8:30pm - in the presence of Charlotte Abramow
Open to the public as of 19 September

Hangar, Brussels
Place du Châtelain 18 Kasteleinplein
1050 Brussels

About Charlotte Abramow

Charlotte Abramow, born in 1993 in Brussels (Belgium), has been interested in images from a very young age. At 13, she photographed her friends and young girls who inspired her, each time creating a small story. At 16, during an internship at the Rencontres d’Arles (France), she met Paolo Roversi (1947), an Italian fashion and portrait photographer. The following year, he wrote an article about her images entitled La fragilité et l’âme d’une guerrière published in Polka Magazine in 2011.

In 2013, Charlotte Abramow moved to Paris to study at Gobelins, l’École de l’Image. Her work won the Picto Prize for Young Fashion Photography in 2014 and mainly explores the relationship with the body, women, and life stages, staging elements in an absurd way within a surreal world. At 24, the artist took charge of the visual direction of the project BROL by Belgian singer Angèle, for which she created all the photographs. During this artistic collaboration, she made her first steps as a director with La Loi de Murphy and Je Veux Tes Yeux.

In 2018, she also directed the music video Les Passantes by Georges Brassens, released on March 8 for International Women’s Rights Day. The same day, it was censored for under-18s on the YouTube platform for “offensive content.”

In 2017, while still in the making, her first book, MAURICE, Tristesse et rigolade, received a special mention at the Photo Folio Review Awards of the Rencontres d’Arles. At the same time, the photographer exhibited her series “They love Trampoline” at Paris Photo with Galerie Fisheye in 2018.

In 2019, the artist's book MAURICE, Tristesse et rigolade was a finalist for the Nadar Prize. The same year, Charlotte Abramow directed the music video Balance ton Quoi by Angèle featuring Pierre Niney. Early 2020, she conceived and directed Le Petit Manuel Sex Education for Netflix. This 64-page editorial object on sexual education, made of photos and texts, was distributed free of charge with 75,000 copies in France.

In 2021, Charlotte Abramow presented her first solo exhibitions: Première Page at Fisheye Gallery (Arles, France) and Started From The Body at Richard Taittinger Gallery (New York, USA). In 2022, she held her first major retrospective exhibition Volle Petrol at Hangar (Brussels, Belgium) and an exhibition Piquées about bees and beekeepers at Maison Guerlain (Paris, France).

Among her many projects: a short film for Arte (an episode of the series H24 on violence against women), the poster for the Critics’ Week at Cannes (2022), a music video for singer Suzane (Clit is Good), the photography for Damso’s latest album (BEYAH), as well as numerous portraits of personalities for the press. In 2025, she held several exhibitions: Rêves de Jeux on the grilles of the Tour- Saint-Jacques (Paris, France), La tête haute a project on psychiatry with the Fédération Hospitalière de France presented at the Fisheye Gallery (Paris, France), as well as Volle Pétrol Twee at Fort Napoléon (Ostend, Belgium).

Selection of Images

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