"I started studying art history as a deepening of my own visual work. That is mainly in the critical attitude, the content became more important. My work became more and more socially critical."
This week Esther Didden is in Tilburg, at the studio of Tommy van der Loo. In his youth, Tommy spent a lot of time in the studio of his father, artist Frank van der Loo. Tommy helped him cast bronze and make molds. It was a classic and successful artistry; the Van der Loo family made a good living. Tommy went to study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Tilburg, where he made the familiar sculptures of his youth. He soon understood that that was not the intention. In the studio at home, form was most important, at the academy, experimentation. After graduating, he decided to study Art History at Radboud University. There he obtained both his bachelor's and master's degrees. It turned out to be a turning point, where he learned to ask critical questions. That gave him enough confidence and self-knowledge to start his own practice as an artist.
"Work that is socially critical sells hard. That was kind of held back by my father, because that work was less marketable."
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