ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Tom Van Eynde was born in 1947 in Berwyn, Il. He attended Columbia College and Chicago & Governor’s State University where he earned a degree in Photography, with an emphasis in still photography, photo history & museum practices. He was the Assistant Curator Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, during the early 80’s. He has also been the photographer for museums and galleries, as well as artists for over 40 years.
ARTIST STATEMENT
The intention of my work, could be said to trick your eyes into believing that what you are looking at is not what you are seeing. I use fake flowers to stand in for the real ones, They are in fact more perfect than the real flowers. I love the idea that once you see through the joke, as it were, you understand how funny the work is. It’s as if you are let in to a joke that only you and I share.
My influences are all the paintings and photographs that we’ve seen of flowers. Plus I tend towards a scientific approach to the documentation in my work. I am not to tied to the beauty of the flowers, since they already have that built in to their fakeness. If I was using real flowers I would be on a quest to find the perfect version of each type of flower that I chose to photograph. That search tends to make the photographer feel more connected to the subject matter, then say a painter who only uses the flower as a starting point, then paints it the way he thinks it should look. The photographer deals with the real image; there for the quest for the perfect flower.
I would like younger people to realize that art is fun! It’s not always spiritual or more meaningful then what it appears, some times it should just make you happy.
Gallery Exhibits have been supported by MAC Corporate Underwriter Colony Brands, Inc. and Season Media Underwriter Big Radio, with additional support from David & Julie Buchanan, Lee & Chris Knuteson, Paul & Sue Barrett, David & Janeen Babler, Kevin & Chris Callahan, Deb Thompson, Barb Woodriff & Pete Guenther, Horst & Mary Alice Hart, Jane Paradowski, Chuck & Chris Wellington.
