''Cogito Ergo Sum'' in oils on canvas by Leon Aarts

Final Verdict: ★★★★☆ (4/5)

A rusty, riveting manifesto on the thinking self, "Cogito Ergo Sum" captures Aarts at his most inventively tormented—oils as oil-slicked synapses, churning doubt into defiant presence. It stands as a pivotal early marker in his oeuvre, bridging raw expressionism to the wry inquiries of Whatdoesitmean and Theatre Reprise. Not his flashiest, but among his smartest: art that doesn't just depict thought—it engineers it.

"Gears grind the ghost in the machine: Aarts' Descartes, oiled and overclocked, affirms existence one creak at a time."