Tom Poeet (b. Uknown) keeps his identity shielded. In doing so, he strips the experience of engaging with art from its social and political parameters, allowing the audience to immerse in a non-verbal, emotional and enigmatic experience that pierces the subconscious. Liberated from any preoccupations and distractions from the art, through media coverage, criticism or the press, the anonymous artist forces us to return our focus to the artistic process itself.

Of the little we know of Poeet: he exhibited in the past during the 1950s under a different name, and is currently undergoing a creative renaissance, which began in 2015. Influenced by Surrealism (and artists such as Hans Bellmer and Alberto Savinio) and the philosophical movement of post-structuralism that emerged in France at the end of the 20th century, Poeet’s imagination veers between anatomical dissections and fantastical abstractions of the human form.

Traditionally, the essence of an artwork has always been perceived as deriving from the will and ability of the artist. According to this paradigm, the life of forms always depends on the formal control that the artist first imposed upon the shapes. Concentrating on drawing, the artist continually breaks away from the original organic idea (one with a firm start to finish). Using a path of unpredictable repetition, Poeet gives place to movements that generate difference, and in turn push his work in absurd and imponderable directions. This produces ‘monsters’ whose true characters are as unidentifiable as the artist himself.

Selected Exhibitions

Colnaghi, London; Postmasters, Rome; Christine Park, New York (Online); Artvisor, London; 10 Hanover, London; and The Library, London.

Interested in Tom Poeet’s work?