Dominique Stroobant (born March 16, 1947) is a Belgian sculptor, photographer and graphic artist living in Italy.

Dominique Stroobant
Born(1947-03-16)March 16, 1947
Antwerp, Belgium[1]
Occupation(s)Photographer and sculptor
Spouse
Mymona („Mona“) Johnson
(m. 1973; died 1998)

Life edit

Since 1970, he has resided and worked in the small hamlet of Miseglia, Carrara.[2][3]

In 1972 he created with Kenneth Davis and Philippe Toussaint the Floating Stones Group.

In 1976 he started his collaboration with the enterprise Fratelli Biselli S.p.A., one of the first two to cut granite since the 1950s in Carrara.[4]

With Paolo Gioli he was one of the photographer who developed pinhole photography[5] in Europe.[6][7] In 1977 he documented with his selft-built[3] pinhole camera the movement of the sun.

He worked with Max Bill. Amongst their most important artwork is the sculpture Kontinuität in Frankfurt.[8]

He has been a friend and collaborator of ZERO artist Jef Verheyen.[9]

In 1988 he carved a memorial for the casualties of the 1956 mining accident of Marcinelle, inside the site of the coal mine.[2]

In 2013 he was the moderator at the round table discussion "Visivi. La fotografia attraverso i linguaggi contemporanei" ("Visual. Photography through contemporary languages"), in Florence at Museo Galileo.[10]

Work edit

In his early years, Stroobant gained recognition for exploring the reuse of industrial materials. However, he later shifted his focus to political and philosophical themes.[3]

Everyone at Carrara knows that stone weeps. ... All of us have experienced how alive stones are, that they behave like sponges, can bend, expand and that they have a voice ... for one who listens

— Dominique Stroobant, [11][12]

Another pivotal aspect of his work is the integration of scientific principles into art.[3]

Gallery edit

Books edit

  • Stroobant, Dominique (1982). Camera Oscura. Hendel Teicher. ASIN B00BBQ848C.
  • Dominique Stroobant. MER. Paper Kunsthalle. 2016.

Documentaries edit

  • Behind these Stones - Dietro i sassi Film and Photography Catalogue presented at the 37th Venice Biennale, Flemish Ministry of the Arts, Belgium, (1976)
  • Non son l’uno per cento, anarchici a Carrara (I am not the one percent, anarchists in Carrara), Antonio Morabito (2006)[13]

Exhibitions edit

Personal life edit

He met in 1969 South-African Mona Johnson (from Cape Town) and had two children, Ish-maël (*1972) and Mascha (*1978).

References edit

  1. ^ a b La Biennale di Venezia (in Italian). Vol. 37. 1976. p. 22. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
  2. ^ a b Carpita, Cinzia (13 August 2012). "Così ho scolpito i morti di Marcinelle. Dominique Stroobant: l'artista belga-carrarino racconta". Il Tirreno (in Italian).
  3. ^ a b c d e Bhui, Hannah (9 June 2014). "A visit to the Carrara marble quarries with sculptor Dominique Stroodant". Purple.
  4. ^ Bromberger, Christian (2016). Carrières d'objets: Innovations et relances (in French). Éditions de la Maison des sciences de l’homme. p. 32. ISBN 9782735118656.
  5. ^ Renner, Eric (2012). Pinhole Photography: From Historic Technique to Digital Application. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9780240810478.
  6. ^ Jon, Grepstad (2015-10-20). "Pinhole Photography – History, Images, Cameras, Formulas". jongrepstad.com. Retrieved 11 March 2017. In the USA, however, critics tended to ignore pinhole photography in art, whereas Paolo Gioli and Dominique Stroobant received more attention in Europe
  7. ^

    I primi “scatti” di sei mesi furono dell 1979 e publicati l’anno dopo (ICC, Antwerpen). La prima recensione in Italia è dell giugno 82 nella rivista Reflex. e poi publicate in numerosissime occasioni. (Romano Fea in Fotografare) . numero 47 (2001) di Pinhole Journal - descrizione detagliata del procedimento

    — Dominique Stroobant, comment in Smargiassi, Michele (16 April 2010). "Un lunghissimo istante". Repubblica.it (in Italian). Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  8. ^ Thomas, Angela (June 2012). "vielschichtige drehpunkt-persönlichkeit" (PDF). www.maxbill.ch (in German). Retrieved 11 March 2017. English version
  9. ^ "Jef Verheyen oeuvre shared Jef & Dominique Stroobant". www.jefverheyen.com/. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  10. ^ "Visivi. La fotografia attraverso i linguaggi contemporanei" (in Italian). Museo Galileo. 3 May 2013. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  11. ^ Leitch, Alison (December 2010). "Materiality of Marble: Explorations in the Artistic Life of Stone". Thesis Eleven. 103 (1): 65–77. doi:10.1177/0725513610381375. S2CID 143336263.
  12. ^ "EVENTS ARCHIVE - 13 November 2016 2pm - Sigmund's Shorts: In the Flesh (2016)". www.freud.org.uk. The Freud Museum. Archived from the original on 18 March 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  13. ^ "Non Sono l'un percento". Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  14. ^ Leitch, Alison (2007). "Visualizing the mountain: the photographer as ethnographer in the marble quarries of Carrara". Journal of Modern Italian Studies. 12 (4): 417–429. doi:10.1080/13545710701640764. S2CID 144187041.
  15. ^ "L'ART ET LE TEMPS REGARDS SUR LA QUATRIÈME DIMENSION".
  16. ^ "THE INTERNATIONAL PINHOLE PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION".
  17. ^ "Senza obiettivo (without lens): pinhole photography exhibition in Siena". domusweb.it/en. 2002.
  18. ^ "ARTEMPO - where times becomes art - contributing artists". fortuny.visitmuve.it/en/home/. 2012.
  19. ^ "ARTEMPO - where times becomes art - Il percorso". fortuny.visitmuve.it/en/home/ (in Italian). 2012.

External links edit