Thomas LEROOY

Born in 1981 in Roselare, Belgique
Lives and works in Brussels, Belgium

Like in a sort of dance of death, monsters, skeletons and other hybrid creatures populate a graphic, sculptural world at the crossroads between symbolism and surrealism. The symbol of the skull, which is omnipresent in Thomas Lerooy’s oeuvre, is a reference to our short time here on earth, the immanent theme of the vanitas of the 17th century. Added to this allegorical content so rich in meaning is a sense of permanent malice, equally Flemish in origin, that from Brueghel to James Ensor has always preserved Belgian art from becoming too dark. Humour as a cure for ugliness is active in Thomas Lerooy’s pieces, like it animated the most trivial caravaggisti paintings, with images of Rome, vice and destitution.

Thomas Lerooy is an artist fuelled by the rich pictorial tradition of his native region of Flanders. He works in both sculpture and drawing. His art has also been shown at the Petit Palais in Paris and figures in the collections of the Centre Pompidou.