A 22-metre-high bronze sculpture by the Belgian artist Thomas Lerooy installed in Knokke
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Tuesday, October 8, 2024


A 22-metre-high bronze sculpture by the Belgian artist Thomas Lerooy installed in Knokke
Thomas Lerooy, Tower. Render.



KNOKKE.- A 22-metre-high bronze sculpture by the Belgian artist Thomas Lerooy will be installed in Knokke on 16 June 2020. The sculpture, entitled Tower, is Lerooy’s first permanent sculpture in the public space.

Tower consists of 49 bronze heads – busts – all facing the sea. The faces have been manipulated and abstracted in such a way that the noses, eyes, ears and chins are all on the same vertical axis, levelling out the differences and making everyone look alike.

As is often the case in Lerooy’s work, Tower, which can be seen as a sequel to Lerooy’s earlier works Obelrisk (2007) and Never Listen to Your Best Friend (2007), refers to the transience, the ephemerality of life and the meaning of existence – or the lack of it. The bronze will patinate and age naturally under the influence of time, the salt from the sea, and the wind.

The title of the work is as simple as it is powerful. Tower refers to today’s society, which is made up of various elements that are more valuable together than separately – a society in which we depend on each other, in which we need to listen to each other and make compromises. Just as a child stacks blocks to make a tower, Lerooy stacks heads to create something meaningful.

But the sculpture is just as much a reference to Brancusi’s Endless Column, a column 30 metres high with an infinitely repeated motif of a diamond-shaped bead that seems to rise to infinity. Just like Brancusi’s column, Tower has a strong verticality. It is as if a line is drawn by hand from the horizon of the sea to the sky. Like a struggle with the infinity of the sea, the sculpture functions as an obelisk, an anchor point, or a cathedral.

Duality and tension are inherent in Lerooy’s work, which provokes, plays and challenges. Lerooy is a master of seduction and deceit. He combines drama and humour, and reconciles the theatrical with the intimate, but he also focuses on the tension between transience and timelessness, between old and new, life and death.

The Belgian public first became acquainted with Thomas Lerooy in 2006 when one of the artist’s first bronze sculptures, Le Petit Jean, was shown on the roof of the Dhondt-Dhaenens Museum. The putto – the name for a chubby nude child figure – peed in the direction of the visitors. Fourteen years later, we see Leroy’s first permanent work in the public space, a bronze sculpture 22 metres high.

Thomas Lerooy
Thomas Lerooy was born in Roeselare in 1981 and now works in Brussels, producing a coherent oeuvre of drawings, bronze sculptures and paintings. In 2015, Lerooy was the first living artist to have a solo exhibition at the Petit Palais in Paris. In his own country, his shows have included a solo exhibition at Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens in 2017, a duo presentation with Félicien Rops at the Kasteel Van Gaasbeek in 2018/2019, and a solo exhibition at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts (KMSK) in Brussels.

Lerooy’s works are included in the collections of important international museums and institutions, such as the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the Belfius Art Collection in Brussels.










Today's News

June 10, 2020

Rubens House in Antwerp presents new Peter Paul Rubens self-portrait

As the art world goes online, a generation gap opens

The National Gallery acquires its first painting by Spanish artist Joaquín Sorolla

Bonhams announces highlights included in its Modern British and Irish Art sale

Part of China's Great Wall not built for war: Study

Mask-clad music lovers trickle in as Vienna concert houses reopen

'Pointer Sisters' founding member Bonnie dead at 69

Phillips unveils highlights for Hong Kong July sales of jewels and jadeite

Renaissance in France's Loire Valley: 'rebirth' for Chambord castle

Street art star unveils Paris mural to George Floyd, Adama Traore

Theater artists decry racism in their industry

Zeit Contemporary Art opens 'Andy Warhol: The Last Decade'

Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam announces the appointment of Yvette Mutumba and Adam Szymczyk as curators-at-large

Martin Myrone appointed Convenor of the British Art Network

Salzburg Festival saves 100th edition with slimmed-down event

A 22-metre-high bronze sculpture by the Belgian artist Thomas Lerooy installed in Knokke

Manifesta 13 Marseille announces the participants of its central exhibition

Alessio Bolzoni presents billboard project in Milan

Leading artists donate works to 100 NHS staff respite rooms across 5 east London hospitals

Delineating Dreams: Inaugural exhibition from Kovet.Art

Oscar Castillo photography exhibit open for private viewing at The Muck

Powerful portraits by Amoako Boafo offered at Bonhams Modern & Contemporary Art sale

The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts receives $2M gift to endow curatorial position

Taymour Grahne opens an online solo exhibition of new paintings by Craig Kucia

Overcoming artist's block - 7 ways to jumpstart creativity

Why do you need World of Warcraft boosting right now?

Fun Facts About Sudoku, From World Guinness Records To Solo-Fun At Home

Know these before playing casino online

Woodshop tools and equipment that you should own

5 Types Brain Injury from Car Accident You Must Know




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez
Writer: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Attorneys
Truck Accident Attorneys
Accident Attorneys
Holistic Dentist
Abogado de accidentes

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site Parroquia Natividad del Señor
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful