Elke Van Kerckvoorde brings together thirty Solo logos, gathered over several years from a
wide range of global contexts. The companies behind these marks share no connection other
than their common name: Solo. This seemingly simple word, recognizable in many languages
as “alone,” “by itself,” or simply “solo”, resonates on multiple levels. It gestures toward the
classical image of the solitary artist in the studio, but above all, it invokes a distinctly
domestic memory: in Belgium, Solo is the baking butter found on nearly every family’s
kitchen table. It is from this intersection of meanings that Van Kerckvoorde departs,
examining how visual identities and brand images become interchangeable.
Each painting measures 30 by 40 cm and is arranged in a strict grid of six by five.
This configuration accentuates their display-like character: the works resemble advertising
panels, catalogue entries, or digital icons designed to be read at a glance. Although every
panel is painted by hand, Van Kerckvoorde deliberately aims for an extreme precision that
lends the works an almost industrial clarity. This tension between manual craftsmanship and
commercial perfection is central to the investigation she unfolds here.
Within this visual uniformity, Van Kerckvoorde introduces subtle yet deliberate
interventions. Some logos are disrupted with smears of butter, butter knives, pieces of bread,
or small landscape motifs reminiscent of traditional butter packaging iconography. Other
panels carry stickers with dates, prices, or weights, elements normally used to determine a
product’s value or shelf life, but here they impose an unexpected layer of meaning on the
logos. At the same time, several logos remain completely untouched, including the well-
known Solo logo of baking butter. This combination creates a productive tension: what is an
original find, what is an artistic intervention, and which criteria define authenticity in this
context?
The series reveals what happens to a brand image once it is removed from its intended
context. A logo that claims uniqueness proves interchangeable; a word that suggests
singularity turns out to be globally shared. By placing all panels under identical visual
conditions, Van Kerckvoorde renders the logos equal and therefore unstable. Their meaning
shifts as viewers compare them rather than simply recognize them.
Through this work, Van Kerckvoorde explores how identity, legibility, and meaning become
fluid when language, image, and context no longer align. Solo ceases to function as a singular
name and instead becomes a system of circulating signs: recognizable yet never definitive;
unique yet endlessly reproducible.
