Galerie Zwart Huis displays work from top contemporary Belgian artists. There is a strong focus on figurative painters: Gery De Smet, Jan Vanriet, Jan de Vliegher, Philippe Vandenberg, Ronny Delrue and Benoît van Innis amongst others. In addition, the gallery has exhibited the sculptors Philip y Aguirre and Johan Tahon, the photographers Carl Dekeyzer and Liliane Vertessen and the conceptual artists Jan Fabre, Luc Deleu and Koen Deprez. Since Elke Helbig succeeded her mother Gerda Vander Kerken, a younger generation of Belgian artists with international potential has joined the gallery. With a mix of artists who deserve their place in Belgian contemporary art history and young promising talents, the gallery represents the vibrant Belgian art scene.

Galerie Zwart Huis began its activities at “De Beir” residency in Knokke, Belgium. The renowned Belgian architect Huib Hoste built this modernist house in 1924. There have been acclaimed exhibitions of Belgian artists with an international reputation such as Jan Fabre, Luc Deleu, Ronny Delrue, Carl De Keyzer, Liliane Vertessen, Johan Tahon and Jan De Vliegher. Solo shows were set up in the fifteen rooms of the house; the museum-style exhibitions took into account the building's modernist architecture. The house was furnished with subtle design classics by Mies van de Rohe, Isamu Noguchi, Eileen Gray, Eames and Bertoia.

The gallery opened its doors in 2001 with the exhibition The Unadapted City by Luc Deleu. During the Beaufort 2003 exhibition, Jan Fabre exhibited drawings around the theme of the tortoise – right at the time when he revealed his famous sculpture in the town of Nieuwpoort. The last exhibition at this location, Color, combined monochrome works of Willem Cole with original polychrome furniture (1925) by architect Huib Hoste. In 2007 the gallery moved to its current location on the boardwalk in Knokke, Belgium.