Wim Delvoye (born 1965 in Wervik, West Flanders) is a Belgian neo-conceptual artist known for his inventive and often shocking projects. Much of his work is focused on the body. As the critic Robert Enright wrote in the art magazine Border Crossings, "Delvoye is involved in a way of making art that reorients our understanding of how beauty can be created". Wim Delvoye has an eclectic oeuvre, exposing his interest in a range of themes, from bodily function, and scatology to the function of art in the current market economy, and numerous subjects in between. He lives and works in Ghent (Belgium). Early life Delvoye was raised in Wervik, a small town in West Flanders, Belgium. He did not have a religious upbringing but has been influenced by the Roman Catholic architecture that surrounded him. In a conversation with Michaël Amy of the New York Times, Delvoye stated, "I have vivid memories of crowds marching behind a single statue as well as of people kneeling in front of painted and carved altarpieces… Although I was barely aware of the ideas lurking behind these types of images, I soon understood that paintings and sculptures were of great importance". Career Growing up, Delvoye attended exhibitions with his parents, and his love of drawing eventually led him to art school, the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Ghent). Delvoye has said that the pessimistic expectations for Belgian art students freed him, essentially making him realize that he “had nothing to lose”. Shortly thereafter, Delvoye began painting over wallpaper and carpets, coloring in the existing patterns and defying the tendency towards free expression vibrant in the art world at the time. Delvoye considers himself an originator of concepts—he is attracted initially to the theory behind pieces, instead of the act of painting itself. After 1990, specialists directed by Delvoye have executed most of his work. In 1992, Delvoye received international recognition with the presentation of his “Mosaic” at Documenta IX, a symmetrical display of glazed tiles featuring photographs of his own excrement. The organizer of Documenta IX, Jan Hoet claimed, “The strength of Wim Delvoye lies in his ability to engineer conflict by combining the fine arts and folk art, and playing seriousness against irony.” Three of his most well known projects are “Cloaca”, “Art Farm”, and a series of Gothic works. Cloaca Delvoye is perhaps best known for his digestive machine, Cloaca, which he