Wim Delvoye

Wim is a Belgian Conceptual artist whose controversial projects include tattooing animals with brand logos and creating installations of floor tiles made out of sliced meat. His best-known work, Cloaca (2000–2007), consists of a machine that processes and defecates food through an automatic digestive tract, allowing Delvoye to sell these packaged “feces” as artwork. Delvoye was born on January 14, 1965, in Wervik, Belgium, and cites the reverence of his hometown to churches and effigies of Christ as an early influence on his work. Delvoye first received critical attention with the presentation of his work Mosaic at documenta IX: a symmetrical display of glazed tiles featuring photographs of his own excrement. In 2010, Cloacawas permanently installed at the Museum of Old and New Art in Australia. Delvoye lives and works in Brighton, England.