The Man from Atlantis in Brussels, Belgium

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Luk Van Soom hails from Weelde-Statie, a village in the north of Antwerp province, where he encountered a local furniture maker who sparked his interest in sculpture. From 1973 to 1980, Van Soom studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Turnhout and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp. He continued his education at the National Higher Institute of Fine Arts in Antwerp until 1983, where he earned recognition with awards such as the Lerius Prize for figure modeling and the sculpture prize from the Antwerp province. In 1992, Van Soom represented Belgium at the World Exhibition in Seville, Spain. Between 1990 and 1993, he served as a professor at the Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam. As of 1990, Van Soom holds an associated professor position at the Academie St. Joost in Breda and worked from 1997 to 2003 as a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp. Since 1998, he has been an independent artist. Throughout Belgium and the Netherlands, around 50 of his images adorn public spaces. Van Soom is captivated by the elements: fire, water, and air; planets, and clouds. His specialty lies in sculpting clay into life-size figures, transforming formless lumps of a natural material into living, breathing entities. He also experiments with other materials such as steel, aluminum, and plastics. Gravity and weightlessness are recurring themes in his work, echoing the tension between materiality and weightlessness characteristic of the Baroque period, which influences his imagery. The search for that elusive weightlessness and the ephemeral is a hallmark of his art. His affinity for Bernini's baroque language and the great sculptors of the period is evident in his use of spirals, extravagant shapes, winding lines, and playful ornamentation, which evoke fantasy. Some of his works draw upon Christian symbolism, often referencing stories from the Old and New Testaments. The metaphysical fascinates him, as he oscillates between a focus on materiality and an exploration of its opposite. His work is at once light and accessible yet prompts questions about life's big mysteries: what are we doing here? How big or small is humanity? Van Soom's style aligns with the Belgian surrealist tradition, marked by alienation, agility, and absurdist touches, a heritage shared by artists like René Magritte.