GEERT GOIRIS
CENTROCHELYS SULCATA
Since 2018
Biography
Geert Goiris is a Belgian photographer who lives and works in Antwerp, Belgium. He studied at the LUCA School of Arts in Brussels (Belgium), at the FAMU Film and Television Academy in Prague (Czech Republic) and at the Higher Institute for Fine Arts (HISK) in Antwerp (Belgium). His work became known to a wider international public when he participated at the Manifesta 5 Contemporary Art Biennial in San Sebastian (Spain) in 2004. The artist is represented by the gallery Art: concept in Paris (France).
Geert Goiris’ work is regularly exhibited at Europe’s renowned art institutions such
as the Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum in Rotterdam (2007), the Wiels Contemporary Art Center (2010), the Palais de Tokyo in Paris (2010), the Hamburger Kunsthalle in Hamburg (2011), the Nouveau Musée National de Monaco (NMNM) (2012), the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Photography in the United States (2015, the Centre Pompidou- Metz (France, 2016), the Frac Normandie Rouen (France, 2017), the Lange Zaal (Antwerp, 2018), the Palazzo De’Toschi (Italy, 2019).
More information
In 2018, a monumental wallpaper is installed on one of Rubis Terminal Rouen’s tank, created after a photography from the Peak Oil series by artist Geert Goiris.
The sulcata turtle represented is a symbol of longevity and stability and can be considered as an actual living fossil whose origins date back to prehistory. It thus echoes, according to the artist, the hydrocarbons on which our society depends. By transferring this sulcata turtle to Rubis Terminal Rouen gigantic tanks, Geert Goiris creates an analogy between the animal and the oil activity of this industrial area.