Etienne DESMET

1943

Etienne DESMET (Ghent 1943) studies at the Academy of Ghent with the sculptors Robert Heylbroeck and Berten Coolens. He also works in the studios of painters Jan Burssens and Pierre Vlerick. He then studies at the Higher Institute in Antwerp with the sculptor Mark Macken. Since 1967, he works every year for several months in the marble quarries of Carrara (Italy).

Etienne DESMET obtains numerous awards, including the Ricard Prize (France), the Provincial Prize of East Flanders, the biennial Rembrandt Bugatti Prize, etc.

Etienne DESMET goes through several stylistic periods. He debuts with plant forms, structures in which geometric forms are placed in an unusual atmosphere and which reflect the graceful lines of Art Nouveau. These are works that fluidly bridge the gap between abstraction and figuration. At that time, he worked mainly in marble and polyester. From 1985, however, he also starts cutting and sawing in wood. In a later period his work evolves strongly geometric with a contrasting play between materials and between rough and polished surfaces. From then on he also made sculptures in bronze. In the nineties he realizes mainly geometric forms in steel.