De Anatomy Lesson II
Guido Geelen mostly works in clay, but also in bronze, aluminum and wood. Classical materials that ask for traditional techniques, but this 'sculptor', as he prefers to be called, knows how to push his material to new heights.
This life-sized human figure of terracotta, for example, is divided into head, torso, arms, abdomen and feet. In these 'fragments' several holes have been made to fill the glass tubes with fresh flowers.
The image of the vase recalls the vanitas paintings from the 17th century: flower still lifes that refer to transience and mortality. The tulips that have been put into the decomposing man are fed by the decay of the body. Death makes life.
Pedestal: Piet Hein Eek