09 june 2023, Flor Linckens
The exquisite beauty of salt
Until 24 June, Galerie Franzis Engels in Amsterdam is showing a solo exhibition by Kees de Vries. Light and reflection are significant elements in experiencing his work, which is reminiscent of an impeccable layer of snow. The Dutch artist uses a recurring material for his installations and paintings: salt crystals. His sculptures and wall works appear both fragile and robust and almost seem to invite you to touch them.
Kees de Vries, Zout met silicium, 2016, Galerie Franzis Engels
De Vries considers salt to be one of the most beautiful materials, not least because of its reflective and minimalistic aspects. You can grow it in ways that are not always easy to predict.
De Vries: “For years I have been fascinated by salt, the purity and beauty of the crystals, but also the mystery of the disappearance and growth of the salt crystals. [I love] the quiet power that salt exudes. Throughout history, all kinds of powers have been attributed to salt, inspired by religions or geomantic traditions. By using salt, I evoke the unconscious emotions people have had through the ages when they were seeing and using salt.”
De Vries is interested in the many historical meanings and associations that surround salt, but also in the everyday nature of the material. The artist also associates it with an important and connecting human tradition: eating and drinking in company. In his most recent series, he uses it metaphorically, referring to the Dutch saying that alludes to 'covering something with a warm coat of love'.
Kees de Vries, Faded glory, 2021, Galerie Franzis Engels
Salt is a material that is not particularly suitable for making art. It has an inherent degree of instability when processed: it tends to discolour when it comes into contact with resin and if too much liquid is involved it dissolves. If it dries on a canvas, the salt crumbles after a while. It can also have a corrosive effect when combined with metals. The fact that De Vries has now mastered the material is the result of decades of experiments — including with cleaning agents and sulfuric acid — which has enabled him to immortalise the salt crystals in a sustainable and stable manner. De Vries mainly uses coarse sea salt for his sculptures, sometimes combined with other materials such as oxidized copper, marble, sand and seaweed. At the basis are evaporation processes, combined with a type of resin in which certain UV filters have been processed.
Kees de Vries, Covered by Beauty # 10, 2023, Galerie Franzis Engels
De Vries studied at the Royal Academy of Art and Design in Den Bosch. He has traveled extensively for a long time to find inspiration and to experience varying cultures: from Vietnam, Iceland and the Faroe Islands to South Africa, Mexico, Kenya and Russia. After 2008, he decided to stop long-distance travel because he is concerned about the impact it has on climate change.
