Tom Volkaert Belgian , b. 1989
Tom Volkaert’s sculptural work is a testimony to the materiality of memory as much as it is an ongoing tribute to the spiritual and shamanic force of art.
Born in Antwerp in 1989, Volkaert’s sculptural work is a carefully balanced combination of refined artistic craftsmanship and the strategic use of unpredictability that comes into play when working with enameled ceramics, epoxy, or oxidized metal. Many of his works consist of circles on legs, which the artist likes to call steering-wheels. These works are like totems: symbolic and organic artifacts that make present the otherworldly alien life in the cosmos and that put us in touch with something radically different from us. On the edges and inside these circles, contorted arachnoid limbs, intestines, and sickly satanic tongues are carefully arranged and held in suspended animation. It is as if these circles are portals to another cosmic dimension and something wholly other than human life is trying to get through, a lumpy otherworldly and alienated organic gesturing at us in a way that feels both familiar and estranging.
But Volkaert’s so-called steering wheels are also a totem for his own life and memories, a way of navigating and coming to terms with his own life. For Volkaert, colors embody memory. Personal memories first of all. And thus, the lived memory of the cinereous cigarette stains on the caput mortuum colored carpet in his parent’s living room is reenacted and relived through the use of these colors in his work. But universal memories too. The usage of umbilical greyish pink and placenta-colored red appeal to a birthing process all of us have gone through; engaging with these colors, Volkaert’s sculptures establish a connection to the matrixial mother in which all creativity is situated, making the viewer receptive to the most intimate and estranging experience of being alive.
Conjuring up these contradictory feelings and holding them together is, ultimately, at the core of Volkaert’s artistic practice. Holding together contradictory sensations, his art opens a space where feelings of joy, surprise, wonder, and disgust are enclosed in the same ceramic totem, metal cut-out, or epoxy statue.
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Potluck
Group Exhibition 4 Dec 2021 - 16 Jan 2022This show resulted from an invitation; an invitation to the creators who over the past few years have shaped this gallery; an open invitation to take part in a show...Read more -
As Slow As Possible
Solo Exhibition by Tom Volkaert 30 Jan - 13 Mar 2021Tom Volkaert’s sculptural work is a testimony to the materiality of memory as much as it is an ongoing tribute to the spiritual and shamanic force of art. Born in...Read more -
Limbo
Group Exhibition 5 Sep - 4 Oct 2020For better or for worse, we are living through what may well become one of the defining moments of the twenty-first century. This much we know. What we do not...Read more -
Mental
Group Exhibition 30 Nov 2019 - 11 Jan 2020MENTAL is show bring together four young international artist to display a powerful selection of works, most being presented for the first time, in a cohesive dialogue between each others...Read more -
In Real Life
Group Exhibition 17 May - 30 Aug 2019During Antwerp Art Weekend 2019 Everyday Gallery (YYY) Hosts a group show curated by Boris Devis that reflects 2019 as a time capsule for future reference. 'In Real Life' will...Read more
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Art Brussels 2023
Main booth with works by ASMA, Bram Kinsbergen, Colleen Barry, Daan Gielis, Dittmar Viane, Erik Chiafele, Mamali Shafahi, Max Kesteloot, Michiel Ceulers, Tom Volkaert, touche—touche 20 - 23 Apr 2023 -
Art Antwerp 2022
15 - 18 Dec 2022 -
Art Rotterdam 2022
Anders Davidsen, B.D. Graft, Bram Kinsbergen, Ciro Duclos, Danilo Stojanovic, Daan Gielis, Erica Mao, Louis Appleby, Mamali Shafahi, Mirko Canesi, Natacha Mankowski, Tom Volkaert 19 - 22 May 2022Everyday Gallery is thrilled to present for the third time at Art Rotterdam 2022 (Booth 84 Main Section).Read more -
Art Brussels 2022
Bram Kinsbergen, Daan Gielis, Deborah Bowmann, Dittmar Viane, Kristof Santy, Thom Trojanowski, Tom Volkaert and Trude Viken 28 Apr - 1 May 2022 -
Miart 2022
Tom Volkaert Solo Presentation 1 - 3 Apr 2022For his solo installation, Belgian artist Tom Volkaert presents a combination of ceramic sculptures, paintings, and epoxy statues. The works can be viewed as measurements...Read more -
Art Antwerp 2021
Daan Gielis, Dittmar Viane, Tom Volkaert, Trude Viken 16 - 19 Dec 2021 -
Art Rotterdam 2021
1 - 4 Jul 2021Everyday Gallery was thrilled to present for the second time at Art Rotterdam 2021 (Booth 18 in the Main Section). Showcasing an eclectic mix of...Read more
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weekendmagazine DE TIJD — Potluck Exhibition
Print Article, December 18, 2021 -
Knack Weekend — Potluck Exhibition
Print Article, December 8, 2021 -
dS Magazine — Potluck Exhibition
Print Article, December 4, 2021 -
Gallery Viewer — Art Rotterdam 2021
Article, June 30, 2021 -
Art Viewer — Tom Volkaert
Article, March 2, 2021 -
Club Paradise — Tom Volkaert and Daan Gielis Solo
Article, January 30, 2021 -
Marie Claire — Tom Volkaert
Article, January 30, 2021 -
Antwerp Art — Tom Volkaert and Daan Gielis Solo
Article, January 30, 2021 -
Stay Happening — Tom Volkaert and Daan Gielis Solo
Article , January 30, 2021 -
FAD Magazine — Tom Volkaert and Daan Gielis solo
Article, December 17, 2020 -
Cartoon-Productions — Tom Volkaert and Daan Gielis Solo
Article, December 16, 2020 -
Art Viewer — Limbo Act II Exhibition
Article, November 10, 2020 -
Gallery Viewer — Art Rotterdam 2020
Article, May 2, 2020 -
Feeling — In Real Life Exhibition
Article, June 26, 2019 -
De Standaard — In Real Life Exhibition
Article, May 25, 2019 -
Kuba Paris — In Real Life Exhibition
Article, May 16, 2019
2022
Art Brussels 2022 - Everyday Gallery, Booth E.16, Brussels
Art Rotterdam 2022 - Everyday Gallery, Booth 84, Rotterdam
2021
As slow as possible - Everyday Gallery, Antwerp (Solo show)
This must be the place - Villa Schoeningen, Potsdam
Mixed pickles 9 - Ruttkowski 68, Munich
Mystic may - The Community, Paris
SUPERSTUDIO - OHM, Antwerp
2020
Souvenirs From Belgium - Catbox Contemporary, Ridgewood (Solo show)
Reservoir - 019, Ghent
Mental - Everyday Gallery, Antwerp
2019
XXX - Nevven Gallery, Gothenburg (Solo show)
Cowboys & indians - Kunstpodium T, Tilburg
The House Of Art And Beauty - OHM, Antwerp
I Know You’re Out There - CuratedbyLolita, Paris
Subaked Thirst With Love - ENA Viewing Space, Budapest
In Real Life - Everyday Gallery YYY, Antwerp
De Biennale Van België - Floralienhal, Ghent
2018
Sometimes you dance alone, sometimes you do a dance with two - Rod Barton, London (Solo show)
AGGIORNAMENTO - Deborah Bowmann, Brussels (Solo show)
Almost good enough - Atlanta Contemporary, Atlanta (Solo show)
Sans Titre 2016 - Paris
Always in the kitchen - Gouvernement, Ghent
The Last Rave - Diesel Project Space, Liege
Castor Projects - London
Make Your Mark - Plus One Gallery, Antwerp
Tasty Breakfast - NH Penthouse Residency, Brussels
Podium Enterprises - Oslo
Art Brussels - Base Alpha Gallery, Brussels
Neighbours - Ghent
Art Rotterdam - Rod Barton, Rotterdam
Stephanie Kelly - Dresden
2017
Dream art fair Basel - online solo presentation
Never the same face thrice - Base-Alpha Gallery, Antwerp (Solo show)
Cart wheels & accessories - Ciap Hasselt (Solo show)
ABC Lounge Klub - ABC Klubhuis, Antwerp
Lost & Found - Rod Barton, London
10 Years Base-Alpha Gallery // Part 1: Artists Of The Gallery - Base-Alpha Gallery, Antwerp
Case Of Doubt - Pina, Vienna
Pulsar #1 - Pulsar, Antwerp
Art Brussels - Base Alpha Gallery booth, Brussels
Indepent - Represented by Art Viewer, Brussels
#infiniteflowersplusone - PLUS-ONE Gallery, Antwerp
Form Canibalism - The Stable, Waregem
Serpent Things Of Light - Yabi, Madrid
Art Rotterdam - Base Alpha Gallery, Rotterdam
2016
Cant Fix It, Fuck It - Pulsar, Antwerp
5 At Hole Of The Fox - Antwerp
Reflector (Nate Lights) - PLUS-ONE Gallery, Antwerp
For Granted, Hole Of The Fox - Antwerp
Fascinator - 252 CC Ekeren
The Super Narrative - In De Ruimte
True Believer - The Pony Club Project Space
Art In The Park - Beersel
For Granted - Hole Of The Fox, Antwerp
Ten Dans - Lieven Segers Nodigt Uit, Cc Maasmechelen
Paradise Lost - Base- Alpha Gallery, Antwerp
2015
Very very very very very very very good times - Hole Of The Fox, Antwerp (Solo show)
T.O.O.N - Groepsproject Het Bos, Antwerp
2014
I Sang And Thought I Sang Very Well - with Federico Acal, Hole Of The Fox, Antwerp
The Poster Show - with Federico Acal, Extra City Vitrine, Antwerp
2013
Fortification With Mette Sinke - Le Garage L. Forcalquier
Anvers Marseille - with Bram Van Meervelde, Salon 2060 Antwerp
Freak_Doggie, Sizzler_007, Paddingtom13, Passoa_Butterfly - Hole Of The Fox, Antwerp