BIO
Tom Claassen was born in Heerlen, in the Netherlands in 1964. In the mid-80s, he attended St. Joost Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Breda, the Netherlands. He has been active in the Netherlands and abroad for more than twenty years.

Claassen has employed an astounding variety of materials for his sculptures, including marble, sand, silicone rubber, cast iron, concrete, aluminum, bronze, plaster, polyester, polystyrene, polyurethane, and wooden logs with the bark still on. Some of these he turns these into abstract forms, while others take on blocky human shapes, and still others mimic common objects, such as playing cards, a camping tent, a curtain, and full burlap sacks.

His work can be seen at NewArtCentre in Wiltshire, England, and in the collection of the Kroller-Muller Museum in Otterlo, the Netherlands. His work has also been exhibited in shows in Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, and France, as well as the 4th Biennial of Istanbul, Turkey, and the 23rd Biennial of Sáo Paolo in Brazil.

ART
Claassen’s sculptures are often not what they seem to be. He creates a tension between the light tone of the subject matter and the weight of the rounded bronze forms. Claassen chose to use a traditional sculpture material—bronze, but enveloped the work in white paint—creating the impression of marshmallowy lightness. The rabbits are placed directly on the ground in an attempt to bring the sculptures “down to earth,” a departure from the way we usually view monuments and public sculpture.

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