'Gallery Pristine Contemporary presents No One Can Silence Me, a solo exhibition by renowned Belgian artist Saskia Pintelon. The exhibition will be on view from Sunday, 1st to Saturday, 28th February 2026. The show reflects her longstanding exploration of the face as language and text as quiet defiance.
In this new series, Pintelon foregrounds visibility and self-possession, particularly for those often pushed to the margins of representation. The portraits are direct yet unforced, inviting viewers to look without spectacle and to listen without instruction. The exhibition is accompanied by a text by Diana Campbell, Artistic Director of the Bukhara Biennale, adapted from her foreword to Pintelon’s forthcoming book.
Having lived and worked in Sri Lanka for over forty years, Pintelon has developed a practice grounded in noticing. Fragments of mass media, fleeting encounters, and everyday language appear as handwritten remarks in her portraits.The lines sit beside the image, gesturing toward judgement, humour, and age. No One Can Silence Me continues her quiet resistance to erasure, acknowledging the social pressures placed on older women while refusing sentimentality or apology.
The faces in this exhibition balance wit with resolve. Subtle gestures carry weight, a lifted eyebrow or closed mouth becomes enough to signal dissent. Language is used sparingly, accompanying the image without directing its reading. Pintelon’s concern is not refinement but presence, allowing faces to remain visibly lived, shaped by time, experience, and attention.
“No One Can Silence Me is a reminder that visibility itself is a form of resistance. Saskia honours the face as witness and the word as tool, revealing that dignity remains loud even when the world prefers quiet.” shares Diana Campbell, Artistic Director, Bukhara Biennale.
“Pintelon’s work has always held a rare clarity and conviction. This exhibition reflects why her practice continues to resonate, both for us and for the audiences we hope to bring into dialogue with it” say Arjun Sawhney and Arjun Butani, Co-Founders, Gallery Pristine Contemporary. Together, these works affirm Pintelon’s belief that art remains a space where presence cannot be muted and the act of being seen is itself a form of voice.'
About Saskia Pintelon
Saskia Pintelon is a contemporary artist whose practice spans portraiture, text-based works, collage, and image intervention, reflecting on the human condition, ageing, beauty, gender, and the digital gaze with quiet irony. Trained at St. Lucas, Ghent, and later based in Sri Lanka, she has exhibited at Dhaka Art Summit, Colombo Art Biennale, and in solo presentations across Europe, South Asia, and the UAE, with institutional highlights including Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens and Fondation CAB. Pintelon is represented by Saskia Fernando Gallery in Sri Lanka and Yavuz Gallery in Singapore and Sydney.
No One Can Silence Me is on view from 1st February to 28th February at Gallery Pristine Contemporary.
Date 28.1.2026