Luc Tuymans is probably one of the most interesting living artist of our times. Not only his art, but also his views on society are at least as fascinating.
Luc Tuymans (born 1958) is a Belgian contemporary artist, considered one of today’s most influential painters.
Tuymans was born in Mortsel, Belgium. He began to study fine art at the Sint-Lukas instituut in Brussels in 1976, and subsequently also studied art history at Vrije Universiteit in Brussels. He first exhibited in 1985. His first U.S. exhibition was at The Renaissance Society in Chicago in 1995.
Tuymans’ work is figurative and makes extensive use of techniques from photography, television and film, such as cropping, framing, sequencing and (sometimes extreme) close-ups. His palette usually tends toward monochrome. Subjects of his paintings range from the historic, for example covering the Holocaust or colonial politics in Belgian Congo, to the very banal, depicting everyday objects. Some of his paintings represent abstract emotions. For a while he abandoned painting completely to make films. Tuymans lives and works in Antwerp. Recently some of his work has been exhibited in “The Triumph of Painting” exhibition in the Saatchi Gallery in London.
Tuymans is married to a Venezuelan artist, Carla Arocha, recent exhibitions at the Chicago Institute of Art, Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago and Andre Schlechtriem Gallery, New York.
But these are only the facts about Tuymans, Tuymans is much much more… His work was recently being discussed as being copied from another artist, but was this true or is it the interpretation from this artist of a very familiar photograph?.. He is very strongly opposed against the right wing Vlaams Belang and his leader Bart de Wever and makes this his personal crusade, but he also is a great thinker and influencer, because every discussion he starts makes you think about it. The same with his art. His drawings /paintings and graphic art are accessible and realistic, but in many cases they are not complete and one has to fill in the blanks yourself. For me that is what great art is all about.
Some nice Tuymans publications are available at www.ftn-books.com
