The Observed Limit

The Observed Limit is Jan Boex’s ongoing project. The drawings look at the fragile relationship between human presence and its surroundings, and at the boundary where the senses fail to grasp what things are in themselves.

The project draws on Kant’s idea of the noumenon: the world as it exists independently of anyone perceiving it. By stripping his subjects of their familiar labels, Boex tries to come closer to that raw presence. The figures are often caught in quiet moments of looking, hesitation or awareness. He is drawn to what happens when you look at something for too long, until it becomes vague and loses its name, and to a sky that is only beautiful because someone is looking at it.

The works from 2024 form a prelude to the project.