All of his artistic life, nature and its patterns form an endless source of inspiration for herman de vries.
It is nature itself that moves him towards artistic calling and he feels no urge whatsoever to add something to it or to take away anything from it. His respect for reality is plenty; he leaves imaging, representation to others. His role as an artist is much more that of an observer amidst nature.
For over forty years now he and his wife Suzanne live near the vast ‘Steigerwald’ and this old forest is his biotope, his endless source of inspiration.
The series of ‘random drawings’ in this exhibition have their origin in this ‘Steigerwald’. herman de vries, on his journeys through the forest, collects dead branches which he, once carefully selected and dried, burns until all that remains is charcoal. Charcoal that, in the hands of the artist – and at random – becomes a drawing on a white sheet of paper.
From real nature till natural reality: the cycle is complete.
herman de vries (Alkmaar 1931) lives and works in Northern Bavaria, Germany. He is one of the founding members of the Dutch NUL movement in 1960.
herman de vries represented the Netherlands in the 2015 Venice Biennale.
The artist will be present during the opening.