Luk Van Soom
The wondrous world of the surrealist sculptor Luk Van Soom is populated with mythical figures and eccentrics: Atlanteans, scuba divers, mountain climbers, astronauts — in short, people with a vocation. He is also fascinated in the primal elements such as fire, water, planets, stars and clouds. His visual language of excessive forms, interlacing motifs, twisting lines and playful ornamentation refers to his intense affinity with baroque. Van Soom masters a great and intrinsic skill: the original forms are still modeled in clay. Afterwards, the models are translated in plaster, bronze, steal, aluminum or plastic. The retrospective exhibition Usine de Nuages (Factory Clouds) brings pieces together around the theme ‘clouds’, a topic that he often frequents in his work.
Luk Van Soom (°1956) lives and works in Rijkevorsel, Belgium. Originally he was a carpenter, specialised in furniture. Afterwards, he studied sculpture in Antwerp, Belgium at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts and also at the Higher Institute for Fine Arts (HISK) in Antwerp, Belgium. He was a professor at the Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam, Netherlands and also at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp. He is currently a professor at the St. Joost Academy in Breda, Netherlands. In his homeland and abroad, he has realised high-profile projects, exhibitions and commissions.
For Beaufort 2006, he created a sculpture of 12 meters high — a metal tree that was erected on the Wenduine beach in Belgium. In 2010, the Stedelijk Museum Hoogstraten organised an important retrospective of his work. His monumental works can be found in many public spaces: ‘Walhalla’, Italiëlei, Finance Centre, Antwerpen, Belgium
‘De avonturen van Baron Von Munchausen’ (The Adventures of the Baron from Munchausen), Zuiderwagenplein, Lelystad, the Netherlands
‘Romeo en Julia II’ (Romeo and Julia II), Provinciedomein Rivierenhof, Antwerpen, Belgium
‘Let's make the water turn back’, Hospital Klina, Brasschaat, Belgium
‘De Man van Atlantis’ (The Man from Atlantis), Waterloolaan, Brussel, Belgium
‘De man die het heelal stut’ (The Man That Struts the Universe), Stationsplein, Wetteren, Belgium
‘Badende Bosnimph’ (Bathing Forest Nymph), University of Maastricht, the Netherlands
Luk Van Soom (°1956) lives and works in Rijkevorsel, Belgium. Originally he was a carpenter, specialised in furniture. Afterwards, he studied sculpture in Antwerp, Belgium at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts and also at the Higher Institute for Fine Arts (HISK) in Antwerp, Belgium. He was a professor at the Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam, Netherlands and also at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp. He is currently a professor at the St. Joost Academy in Breda, Netherlands. In his homeland and abroad, he has realised high-profile projects, exhibitions and commissions.
For Beaufort 2006, he created a sculpture of 12 meters high — a metal tree that was erected on the Wenduine beach in Belgium. In 2010, the Stedelijk Museum Hoogstraten organised an important retrospective of his work. His monumental works can be found in many public spaces: ‘Walhalla’, Italiëlei, Finance Centre, Antwerpen, Belgium
‘De avonturen van Baron Von Munchausen’ (The Adventures of the Baron from Munchausen), Zuiderwagenplein, Lelystad, the Netherlands
‘Romeo en Julia II’ (Romeo and Julia II), Provinciedomein Rivierenhof, Antwerpen, Belgium
‘Let's make the water turn back’, Hospital Klina, Brasschaat, Belgium
‘De Man van Atlantis’ (The Man from Atlantis), Waterloolaan, Brussel, Belgium
‘De man die het heelal stut’ (The Man That Struts the Universe), Stationsplein, Wetteren, Belgium
‘Badende Bosnimph’ (Bathing Forest Nymph), University of Maastricht, the Netherlands
