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'A Romantic Weekend At Freeman Ranch' a solo by Tom Volkaert
16 September — 22 October 2023We prefer not to think about it, but we all know it: everyone now living will die someday. In his solo exhibition for Everyday Gallery, 'A Romantic Weekend At Freeman Ranch', Tom Volkaert (b. 1989, Belgium) takes this insight as a starting point for a careful reflection on the way in which life and death intertwine. He unites personal experiences, such as the death of a good friend, with his own reworking of classical themes from art, such as the memento mori and the iconography of the heart. In this way, Volkaert creates a space in which love and loss, escapism and life force, illness, and health no longer exclude each other but rather reinforce each other.The title of the exhibition refers to a research institute at Texas State University, a so-called 'body farm' where researchers study the decomposition of bodies. Volkaert's title lets this clinical research environment collide with the loving escapism of a romantic weekend. That clash, which is both estranging and funny, is completely sincere: this exhibition is not a biting criticism of a scientific approach to death, and it does not look down on a naive, romantic approach to mortality. Volkaert embraces both with equal enthusiasm. And that is precisely the point: in a society in which we hide and compartmentalize illness and mortality as much as possible, Volkaert creates a space in which they can be present alongside each other. 'A Romantic Weekend At Freeman Ranch' shows the world as we know it, but rearranged through Volkaert’s creative vision - making the existing world completely new again.Download the exhibition text here.More information about the artist can be found here. -
Tom VolkaertA Romantic Weekend At Freeman Ranch, 2023Epoxy resin, spray paint, wood, clock mechanism, lampH 70 x W 80 x D 80 cm -
Tom VolkaertForever Wilted, 2023Epoxy resin, spray paintH 95 x W 62 x D 62 cm
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Tom VolkaertCan’t See You Through The Dark Forest My Friend, 2023Epoxy resin, spray paintH 100 x W 78 x D 78 cm
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Tom VolkaertA Subtle Nightstand, 2023Epoxy resin, spray paintH 170 x W 70 x D 65 cm
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Small sculptures
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Self portraits/book holders
A Romantic Weekend At Freeman Ranch: Tom Volkaert
Current viewing_room
