Saturday, August 18, 2018

Luk Van Soom: Into View Hardcover – February 13, 2017 by Luk Van Soom (Stichting Kunstboek)



This book is a  retrospective of the life and career of artist/sculptor Luk Van Soom

Van Soom is fascinated by the primal elements: fire, water and air; through planets and clouds. One of his specialties is sculpting sculptures in clay. Formless chunks of clay, a material of nature, are transformed into life-size figures by Van Soom. He also works with other materials including steel, aluminum and plastics.

Gravity and weightlessness are themes that constantly recur in his work. The visual language that Soom uses also refers to the baroque in which the tension between matter and weightlessness is a constant. The search for that weightlessness and the fleeting are characteristic of his work. He has an affinity with the baroque language of Bernini and the great sculptors of that period. Spirals, lavish shapes, winding lines and playful ornamentation underline that fantasy.

Some of his works are related to Christian symbolism. Stories from the old and new testaments are often used. In this, the metaphysical fascinates him. He holds on to the matter on the one hand but wants to get away from it at the same time.

His work is light and accessible at the same time, but he asks questions about the major issues of life: what are we doing here? How big or how small is man? Van Soom fits in with the Belgian surreal tradition, characterized by alienation, light-footedness and absurdist accents, where René Magritte also belongs.

With an impressive career of over 40 years that has resulted in the installation of large-scale art projects in numerous public spaces, artist/sculptor Luk Van Soom needs no further introduction in Belgium and the Netherlands. This beautifully designed art book is a first retrospective on his life and career. In a series of discussions and interviews with the artist, author Johan Pas sheds some light on the influences, philosophy, thinking and themes that have been vital for Van Soom's artistic development: the relation between life and passion, travel and art, etc. Together, these texts present a kaleidoscopic image of Luk Van Soom's life and work that is just as multifaceted and compelling as his art. At the age of seventeen Van Soom took his first tentative steps as an artist. Now 40 years later, he has an impressive curriculum including many exhibitions, commissions and projects both in his home country and abroad. Moreover, he created more than 50 monumental works for the public space in Belgium and the Netherlands, among which some very well know sights, such as Walhalla (1993, Antwerp), The Man from Atlantis (2003, Brussels), The Wharfinger (2005, Zwolle) and Walking to Magdalena (2012, Ostend).

Text in English and Dutch.

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