Chris Tap (b. 1973, Amsterdam) attended university for a few years,
where he studied economy and cultural anthropology, before he went to
become a full time sculptor. In the last 12 years he
developed his passion in an autodidact manner. Aside
from studying anatomy Chris has spent a lot of time in Zoo's.
with live models of big cats.
Helped
by faith, Chris came across the rare opportunity at the Amsterdam Zoo
Artis to see cats from the closest distance possible, when they were given an anesthetic for medical reasons. Careful he measured up
the big cats from every angle to the smallest details > the muscles, the bones, the eyes, how far is the distance
between the eyes, etc. He took a close look at a jaguar
called ‘Inaja’.
At Artis, the zoo of amsterdam (Netherlands) he came across an equal opportunity to study a huge male lion ‘Jan’.
Tap is fascinated mostly by cats. The power they posses, the flexibility and grand style in which they move.
He is the second generation of artists in his family – his father Wim Tap is a well known artist in Holland- www.tapartgallery.nl – which means Chris knows the craft from very close by since he was born.
Tap exhibited his works in gallery's, art fairs etc. in several countries.