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Bouke de Vries studied at the Design Academy Eindhoven, and Central St Martin’s, London. After working with John Galliano, Stephen Jones and Zandra Rhodes, he switched careers and studied ceramics conservation and restoration at West Dean College. Every day in his practice as a private conservator he was faced with issues and contradictions around perfection and worth:
‘The Venus de Milo’ is venerated despite losing her arms, but when a Meissen muse loses a finger she is rendered virtually worthless.’
Using his skills as a restorer (c.f. Ron Mueck’s model-maker skills), his ‘exploded’ artworks reclaim broken pots after their accidental trauma. He has called it ‘the beauty of destruction’. Instead of reconstructing them, he deconstructs them. Instead of hiding the evidence of this most dramatic episode in the life of a ceramic object, he emphasises their new status, instilling new virtues, new values, and moving their stories forward.
The more contemplative works echo the 17th- and 18th-century still-life paintings of his Dutch heritage, especially the flower paintings of the Golden Age, a tradition in which his hometown of Utrecht was steeped (de Heem, van Alst, van Huysum inter alia), with their implied decay. By incorporating contemporary items a new vocabulary of symbolism evolves.
These ‘dead natures’ – natures morts – give everyday household objects, a plate, a milk jug, a teapot, a modern poignancy that refers back to the vanitas and memento mori paintings of that period. An installation in de Vries’s London house is arranged in the manner of Daniel Marot with white Delft domestic pottery rescued in fragments from 17th- and 18th-century rubbish tips, now dug up and partially pieced together. Among them are two small artists’ paint pots with the pigment still in them, as possibly once used by – who knows? – Vermeer or Rembrandt.
‘The Venus de Milo’ is venerated despite losing her arms, but when a Meissen muse loses a finger she is rendered virtually worthless.’
Using his skills as a restorer (c.f. Ron Mueck’s model-maker skills), his ‘exploded’ artworks reclaim broken pots after their accidental trauma. He has called it ‘the beauty of destruction’. Instead of reconstructing them, he deconstructs them. Instead of hiding the evidence of this most dramatic episode in the life of a ceramic object, he emphasises their new status, instilling new virtues, new values, and moving their stories forward.
The more contemplative works echo the 17th- and 18th-century still-life paintings of his Dutch heritage, especially the flower paintings of the Golden Age, a tradition in which his hometown of Utrecht was steeped (de Heem, van Alst, van Huysum inter alia), with their implied decay. By incorporating contemporary items a new vocabulary of symbolism evolves.
These ‘dead natures’ – natures morts – give everyday household objects, a plate, a milk jug, a teapot, a modern poignancy that refers back to the vanitas and memento mori paintings of that period. An installation in de Vries’s London house is arranged in the manner of Daniel Marot with white Delft domestic pottery rescued in fragments from 17th- and 18th-century rubbish tips, now dug up and partially pieced together. Among them are two small artists’ paint pots with the pigment still in them, as possibly once used by – who knows? – Vermeer or Rembrandt.
Kunstwerken
Articles
Media
Highlights
Over de kunstenaar
In collectie van
Tentoonstellingen
Marktpositie
CV
Aangeboden kunstwerken van Bouke de Vries
Articles on Bouke de Vries
Media
New York Times T: Magazine, werdt gevraagd om de studio van Bouke de Vries te bezoeken, een Nederlandse keramist die de schoonheid ziet in de imperfecties van een object; "Als je met kapotte dingen werkt, zie je ze op een andere manier dan wanneer ze perfect zijn." Dit studiobezoek geeft inzicht in de geest en het werk van de kunstenaar en legt een fragment van Bouke de Vries vast.
Over de kunstenaar
NY Times
Je zou de eigenaardige poëzie van deze stukken bijna als iets spiritueels kunnen zien, een soort van wedergeboorte. De Vries is niet vies van het idee. Het is duidelijk wanneer hij een porseleinen Christus reconstrueert en er dan een vlinder aan vastmaakt. "In Nederlandse stillevens is de vlinder een symbool van opstanding", zegt hij...
Tim Blanks
Museum Voorlinden
Waar Bouke de Vries (1960) in zijn werk als restaurator beschadigde objecten weer in oorspronkelijke staat probeert terug te brengen, zo benadrukt hij in zijn werk als kunstenaar juist de schoonheid van een object dat door een ongeluk waardeloos is verklaard...
Museum Voorlinden
Tentoonstellingen
Marktpositie
Bouke de Vries (NL, 1960) is best known for his tactile, poetic sculptures in ceramics. He studied design and has a background in ceramics restoration. In his porcelain universe, seemingly antithetical concepts such as beauty, decay and transience find a startling reconciliation. A link to 19th century Romantic ideas is always close at hand. In his work, construction and deconstruction are two sides of the same coin. Taking fractured ceramics from different cultures and traditions (such as Delft, Royal Worcester, Kangxi, Kintsugi, and Sèvres), he transforms them into new and unimaginable assemblages.
CV
Lives and works in London, UK
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2016
War and Pieces, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, Den Haag, NL
War and Pieces, Hetjens Museum, Düsseldorf, DE
Croome Park redefined, Installation piece for National Trust, Croome, Worcester, UK
2015
CHengju International Craft Biennale, Cheongju, SK
2014
Fragments, Chateau de Nyon, Nyon, FR
Taiwan Ceramics Biennale, Taipei
Threads of my life, Gloria Maria Gallery, Milan, IT
2013
Art SOUTH, Southampton Art Gallery, Southampton, UK
War and Pieces, Alnwick Castle, Alnwick, UK
War and Pieces, Charlottenburg Palace, Berlin, DE
Bouke de Vries: Bow Selector, Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, UK
2012
War and Pieces, Holbourne Museum, Bath, UK
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2016
Vernieuwd Verleden, Coda Museum, Apeldoorn, NL
Asia-Amsterdam, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA, USA
Re-Animate, Repair, Mend and Melt, Ferrin Contemporaray, North Adams, MA, USA
Blue and White, Ariana Museum, Geneva, SW
Skelet, Museum Beelden aan Zee, Den Haag, NL
2015
Shared, Somerset House, London, UK
My Blue China, Fondation D'Enterprise Bernardaud, Limoges, FR
Sweet 18, Kasteel van Hingene, Hingene, BE
Asia-Amsterdam, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem (MA), USA
2014
Re-Used, Gallerie Ron Mandos, Amsterdam, NL
2013
Anders, Historisch Museum, Haarlem, NL
Portretten op Buitenplaats Beeckestijn, Buitenplaats Beeckesijn, Velsen, NL
Beastly Hall, Hall House, Bexley, UK
2012
Vanitas/Contemporary Reflections, Moscow MOMA, Moscow, RU
Mono No Aware, Bo Lee Gallery, Bath, UK
Bad For You, Shizaru Gallery, Londong, UK
This Is London, Shizaru Gallery, London, UK
4 the Korenbeurs Schiedam, Korenbeurs Schiedam
Earthly Delights, Laleh June Gallery, Basel,CH
Waste, Tanya Rumpf Gallery, Haarlem, NL
Lots Wife, Salisbury Arts Centre, Salisbury, UK
York City Art Gallery, York City Art Gallery, York, UK
Between Dimension, The Prepresentation Of The Object, MIMA, Middlesbrough, UK
2011
CRAFT Raiders of the lost arts, Pertwee, Anderson and Gold, London, UK
CHEZLEGRANDBAG, ART&RAPY, Monaco, MC
The Return, The House of a Nobleman at Cornwall Terrace, London, UK
2010
Questions of belonging, MIMA – Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, UK
Contemporary eye, Crossovers Pallant house Gallery, Chichester, UK
PAN, Amsterdam, NL
Artissima, Turijn, IT
Vanitas, All Visual Arts, London, UK
The borrowed loop, Man&Eve, London, UK
Ultra Kyoto, Kyoto, JP
A grand tour of my mind, Gloria Maria Gallery, Milan, IT
Miart, Milan, IT
MurmurART, London, UK
Things I made, things I found and made, Salon, London, UK
ART Rotterdam, Rotterdam, NL
Deconstructions, Galerie Ron Mandos, Amsterdam, NL
2009
Emerging artists, Flora Fairbairn Projects, London, UK
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2016
War and Pieces, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, Den Haag, NL
War and Pieces, Hetjens Museum, Düsseldorf, DE
Croome Park redefined, Installation piece for National Trust, Croome, Worcester, UK
2015
CHengju International Craft Biennale, Cheongju, SK
2014
Fragments, Chateau de Nyon, Nyon, FR
Taiwan Ceramics Biennale, Taipei
Threads of my life, Gloria Maria Gallery, Milan, IT
2013
Art SOUTH, Southampton Art Gallery, Southampton, UK
War and Pieces, Alnwick Castle, Alnwick, UK
War and Pieces, Charlottenburg Palace, Berlin, DE
Bouke de Vries: Bow Selector, Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, UK
2012
War and Pieces, Holbourne Museum, Bath, UK
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2016
Vernieuwd Verleden, Coda Museum, Apeldoorn, NL
Asia-Amsterdam, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA, USA
Re-Animate, Repair, Mend and Melt, Ferrin Contemporaray, North Adams, MA, USA
Blue and White, Ariana Museum, Geneva, SW
Skelet, Museum Beelden aan Zee, Den Haag, NL
2015
Shared, Somerset House, London, UK
My Blue China, Fondation D'Enterprise Bernardaud, Limoges, FR
Sweet 18, Kasteel van Hingene, Hingene, BE
Asia-Amsterdam, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem (MA), USA
2014
Re-Used, Gallerie Ron Mandos, Amsterdam, NL
2013
Anders, Historisch Museum, Haarlem, NL
Portretten op Buitenplaats Beeckestijn, Buitenplaats Beeckesijn, Velsen, NL
Beastly Hall, Hall House, Bexley, UK
2012
Vanitas/Contemporary Reflections, Moscow MOMA, Moscow, RU
Mono No Aware, Bo Lee Gallery, Bath, UK
Bad For You, Shizaru Gallery, Londong, UK
This Is London, Shizaru Gallery, London, UK
4 the Korenbeurs Schiedam, Korenbeurs Schiedam
Earthly Delights, Laleh June Gallery, Basel,CH
Waste, Tanya Rumpf Gallery, Haarlem, NL
Lots Wife, Salisbury Arts Centre, Salisbury, UK
York City Art Gallery, York City Art Gallery, York, UK
Between Dimension, The Prepresentation Of The Object, MIMA, Middlesbrough, UK
2011
CRAFT Raiders of the lost arts, Pertwee, Anderson and Gold, London, UK
CHEZLEGRANDBAG, ART&RAPY, Monaco, MC
The Return, The House of a Nobleman at Cornwall Terrace, London, UK
2010
Questions of belonging, MIMA – Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, UK
Contemporary eye, Crossovers Pallant house Gallery, Chichester, UK
PAN, Amsterdam, NL
Artissima, Turijn, IT
Vanitas, All Visual Arts, London, UK
The borrowed loop, Man&Eve, London, UK
Ultra Kyoto, Kyoto, JP
A grand tour of my mind, Gloria Maria Gallery, Milan, IT
Miart, Milan, IT
MurmurART, London, UK
Things I made, things I found and made, Salon, London, UK
ART Rotterdam, Rotterdam, NL
Deconstructions, Galerie Ron Mandos, Amsterdam, NL
2009
Emerging artists, Flora Fairbairn Projects, London, UK
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