With over 40 years’ experience, VAN GEERT ART FOUNDRY has made a name for itself in the art world. Let’s go back in time and take a look behind the scenes of the art foundry.
Jo Van Geert
In his twenties, Jo Van Geert apprenticed with bronze founder Bert Ghijsels at the internationally renowned Pakeshof in Erembodegem.
In 1998, Jo set up his own bronze foundry “Kunstgieterij Van Geert” in his garage. He did so out of a love of craftsmanship and a desire to professionalise the production process.
A year later, as his success grew, Jo Van Geert moved to his current premises in Aalst, which are better equipped for larger projects.
Jo continues to work on expanding the “Kunstgieterij Van Geert”. The working method is standardised. Jo and his team translate the artists’ ideas or creations into bronze and accompany them from A to Z. The team works for both emerging artists and well-known names in Belgium.
Kunstgieterij Van Geert is increasingly producing large-scale, complex projects in bronze, such as Protected Paradise by Koen Van Mechelen. This magnificent work, representing a chicken’s foot, 12 metres high and weighing 5 tonnes, was on show at the 2019 Venice Biennale.
In 2020, “Tower” by Belgian artist Thomas Lerooy was created and installed on the Knokke-Heist dike. This 22-metre-high bronze sculpture is made up of 49 stacked heads.
Philippe Geluck’s drawings of Le Chat are also made in bronze and measure up to 2 metres. The touring exhibition featuring 20 bronze sculptures of Le Chat opened in 2021 on the Champs-Élysées in Paris. In the meantime, it has also travelled to cities such as Bordeaux, Monaco, Montreux and Brussels.
In 2022, Sara Louwagie joins Jo Van Geert to write the next chapter in the history of the art foundry and ensure the future of the bronze casting profession.
Her vision? To combine respect for the tradition and craft of bronze casting with innovation and experimentation, and to continue to develop the foundry as a home and a platform for artists. The foundry continues to operate under the name “VAN GEERT ART FOUNDRY”.
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