herman de vries
to be all ways to be
9 May–22 November 2015
Dutch Pavilion
Giardini
Venice
Curators: Colin Huizing and Cees de Boer
Commissioner: Mondriaan Fund
herman de vries (b. 1931) is representing the Netherlands at the Biennale Arte 2015. Under the title to be all ways to be the Dutch pavilion exhibits new sculptures, objects, works on paper and photography by de vries. Educated as a horticulturist and natural scientist, de vries gathers, orders, isolates and displays objects from nature, directing our attention to both the unity and the diversity of the world around us. In his preparatory travels to Venice, de vries collected many objects from the Laguna, the Giardini and the city, resulting in multiple works both in the Dutch Pavilion and on the deserted island of Lazzaretto Vecchio in the southern Laguna.
In over 60 years herman de vries has produced an uncommonly versatile oeuvre in which art, science and philosophy are juxtaposed with the world. Initially involved in the international ZERO movement, he has since then focused on natural processes and phenomena and presents these as the primary, physical reality of human existence. The strength and richness of de vries’s oeuvre stems from the biotope developed in his hometown of Eschenau (Germany) and during his travels, including Venice.
The Dutch Pavilion in the Giardini, built by Rietveld in 1954, with its open, transparent and spatially poetic character, symbolizes the rational and optimistically progressive thinking that prevailed during the first half of the 20th century. The organic and natural materials in the work of herman de vries, counter this notion and attest to the idea that natural processes and phenomena are too complex to explain rationally. Experienced through all senses, the works in the pavilion and at different locations throughout the Venetian Lagoon, will question existing definitions and positions on nature and culture.
One of de vries’s pivotal works: from the laguna of venice – a journal, brings this habitat into the Dutch pavilion. People engage with this habitat: a boat ferries them to de vries’s sanctuarium: natura mater at the Lazzaretto Vecchio.
Works by herman de vries are included in museum collections worldwide. The recent retrospective ZERO exhibitions in the Guggenheim Museum New York, Martin Gropius Bau Berlin and Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam carried his work.
Colin Huizing is chief curator at the Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, working on developments in the visual arts from the ’60s on. In 2014 he curated the exhibition herman de vries – all in the Stedelijk Museum Schiedam.
Cees de Boer works as a freelance curator, art critic and art advisor. His study of philosophical aspects of the work of herman de vries: Overal stroomt mijn oog was published in 2014.
Publication
The Valiz/Mondriaan Fund publication herman de vries – to be all ways to be offers a parallel world to the exhibition, illuminating all the works on view and highlighting herman de vries in dialogue with Jean-Hubert Martin (Magiciens de la Terre, Centre Georges Pompidou / Grande Halle Parc de la Vilette, 1989; Affinités insolites, Grand Palais Paris, April 2016). Martin confronts de vries with key concepts such as synesthesia, mimesis, craftsmanship, sound and music, smell, nature and ecology, and interweaves the works and thoughts of de vries, with images and other sources throughout his text. This publication opens up historical, art historical and philosophical contexts and perspectives.
ISBN 978 90 78088 99 8
Mondriaan Fund
The Mondriaan Fund, a publicly financed foundation for visual arts and cultural heritage, is responsible for the Dutch entry to the Venice Biennale. For the 56th edition the Mondriaan Fund (again) issued an open call to curators, who were asked to produce a plan together with one or more artists in keeping with a state event.
Further information and images
RP PR, Rhiannon Pickles: T +31 (0) 6 15821202 / info [at] picklespr.com
For images, please visit www.venicebiennale.nl.
