Wim Delvoye

Wim Delvoye has gained international recognition for pushing the boundaries of art by combining elements of science, engineering, and ornamentation in ways that challenge conventional understandings of art and aesthetics. His wide-ranging conceptual practice that merges traditional craftsmanship with modern technology provokes, intrigues and entertains our understanding of beauty.

Born in Wervik, Belgium, in 1965, Delvoye works in a diverse range of mediums from sculpture to drawing, live tattooed animals, stained glass windows and X-ray photographs. Starting in the early 1990s, Delvoye began tattooing live pigs with elaborate designs, including images of corporate logos, religious symbols and popular culture references. The tattooed pigs are raised and cared for on the ‘Art Farm’, which was established in Beijing, and when they die, their tattooed skins become works of art. This project examines the commercialisation of art and the ethical dimensions of using living beings in artistic expression.

One of Delvoye’s most famous works is Cloaca (2000), often referred to as the ‘mechanical digestive system’. This large-scale installation replicates the human digestive process, turning food into waste through a series of machines. Cloaca is a sharp commentary on consumerism and the human body’s role in it, with the machine producing actual excrement as its output. Delvoye’s blend of absurdity, science and technology in this piece has sparked both fascination and controversy, with exhibitions of Cloaca in major museums around the world.

In addition to these experimental projects, Delvoye has a fascination with Gothic architecture. He incorporates the highly ornamental, intricate designs of Gothic cathedrals into modern objects. His ongoing series of Gothic works, which began in 1999, includes sculptures of heavy construction equipment, such as bulldozers and cement mixers, intricately decorated in a Gothic style. These pieces contrast the sacred and the industrial, reflecting Delvoye’s interest in blurring the lines between high art, functionality and everyday life.

Delvoye has exhibited his works in prominent galleries and museums worldwide. His works belong in the collections of the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Centre Pompidou and the Louvre in Paris, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam and other major institutions.