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 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
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
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
Art Rotterdam 2022 - Everyday Gallery, Booth 84
2021
As slow as possible - Everyday Gallery, Antwerp, BE (Solo show)
This must be the place - Villa Schoeningen, Potsdam, DE
Mixed pickles 9 - Ruttkowski 68, Munich, DE
Mystic may - The Community, Paris, FR
SUPERSTUDIO - OHM, Antwerp, BE
2020
Souvenirs From Belgium - Catbox Contemporary, Ridgewood NY,
US (Solo show)
Reservoir’, 019, Ghent, BE
Mental - Everyday Gallery, Antwerp, BE
2019
XXX - Nevven Gallery, Gothenburg, SE (Solo show)
Cowboys & indians - Kunstpodium T, Tilburg, NL
The House Of Art And Beauty - OHM, Antwerp, BE
I Know You’re Out There - CuratedbyLolita, Paris, FR
Subaked Thirst With Love - ENA Viewing Space, Budapest, duo show with Zsofia Keresztes, HU
In Real Life - Everyday Gallery YYY, Antwerp, BE
De Biennale Van België - Floralienhal, Ghent, BE
2018
Sometimes you dance alone, sometimes you do a dance with two - Rod Barton, London, UK (Solo show)
AGGIORNAMENTO - Deborah Bowmann, Brussels, BE (Solo show)
Almost good enough - Atlanta Contemporary, Atlanta, US (Solo show)
Sans Titre 2016 - Paris, FR
Always in the kitchen - Gouvernement, Ghent, BE
The Last Rave - Diesel Project Space, Liege, BE
Castor Projects - London, UK
Make Your Mark - Plus One Gallery, Antwerp,BE
Tasty Breakfast - NH Penthouse Residency, Brussels, BE
Podium Enterprises - Oslo, NO
Art Brussels - Base Alpha Gallery, Brussels, BE
Neighbours - Ghent, BE
Art Rotterdam - Rod Barton, Rotterdam, NL
Stephanie Kelly - Dresden, DE
2017
Dream art fair basel - online solo presentation curated by Rod Barton.
Never the same face thrice - Base-Alpha Gallery, Antwerp, BE (Solo show)
Cart wheels & accessories - Ciap Hasselt, BE (Solo show)
ABC Lounge Klub - ABC Klubhuis, Antwerp BE
Lost & Found - Rod Barton, London, UK
10 Years Base-Alpha Gallery // Part1: Artists Of The Gallery - Base-Alpha Gallery, Antwerp, BE
Case Of Doubt - Pina, Vienna, AT
Pulsar #1 - Pulsar, Antwerp, BE
Art Brussels - Base Alpha Gallery, Brussels, BE
Indepent - Represented by Art Viewer, Brussels, BE
#infiniteflowersplusone - PLUS-ONE Gallery, Antwerp, BE
Form Canibalism - The Stable, Waregem, BE
Serpent Things Of Light - Yabi, Madrid, ES
Art Rotterdam - Base Alpha Gallery, Rotterdam, NL
2016
Cant Fix It, Fuck It - Pulsar, Antwerp, BE
5 At Hole Of The Fox - Antwerp, BE
Reflector (Nate Lights) - PLUS-ONE Gallery, Antwerp, BE
For Granted, Hole Of The Fox - Antwerp, BE
Fascinator - 252 Cc Ekeren, BE
The Super Narrative - In De Ruimte, BE
True Believer - The Pony Club Project Space, BE
Art In The Park - Beersel, BE
For Granted - Hole Of The Fox, Antwerp, BE
Ten Dans - Lieven Segers Nodigt Uit, Cc Maasmechelen, BE
Paradise Lost - Base- Alpha Gallery, Antwerp, BE
2015
Very very very very very very very good times - Hole Of The Fox, Antwerp, BE (Solo show)
T.O.O.N - Groepsproject Het Bos, Antwerp, BE
2014
I Sang And Thought I Sang Very Well - with Federico Acal, Hole Of The Fox, Antwerp, BE
The Poster Show - with Federico Acal, Extra City Vitrine , Antwerp, BE
2013
Fortification With Mette Sinke - Le Garage L. Forcalquier, FR
Anvers Marseille - with Bram Van Meervelde, Salon 2060 Antwerp, BE
Freak_Doggie, Sizzler_007, Paddingtom13, Passoa_Butterfly - Hole Of The Fox, Antwerp, BE