Tom Hallet — The Boar and the Shepherd

+++ This installation was on view from 4 to 27 August 2023. +++

For INBOX Belgian artist Tom Hallet presented a new installation consisting of a series of fourteen drawings and a sculpture, in which two primordial gods battle it off against each other, or… together. They change shape in an eternal cycle of destruction and re-creation, like shapeshifters, navigating a pitch-black atmosphere on the eve of a catastrophic event. A boar and a shepherd, both existing in similar surroundings but are opposites. One is wild, the other tries to keep order. But at the end of the day, who looks after the others’ safety?

In a wilful way, Hallet interwove queer theory and generational trauma. Using a worldbuilding full of complex symbols, he reaches for a recognisable, but never fully reliable, humanity.

Tom Hallet (1990 in Leuven) has a multidisciplinary practice and mainly makes drawings and sculptures, two media that he connects in a constant dialogue with each other and with the viewer. By building a visual world in which mythology, queerness and personal chronicles merge, Hallet examines history (as we think we know it) and tries to introduce an inclusive narrative.

The exhibition was part of the Antwerp Pride Programme 2023.

With INBOX Muhka reserves the fifth floor of the museum for surprising interventions and intimate pop-up presentations.

Image: Chantal van Rijt