| | Jaap de Vries | « back | |||||||||||
| Renkum, 1959 School of Arts ´Sint Joost' Breda 1978-1983 The Netherlands
Publications 2009 Elsevier, May 2009, Top 100 Dutch Artists 2009 ‘Benjamin Roth, Houcine Bouchiba, Jaap de Vries', Wim Izaks Stipend 2008 aanleiding van Wim Izaksprijs Brabant Cultureel #3, Cocky van Bokhoven, NL 2009 ‘De boekenkast van...Jaap de Vries', KUNSTBEELD #5, Sandra Jongenelen, NL 2009 ‘SHINE ON', Artists & Illustrators #67 William Delmont, UK 2008 ‘JAAP DE VRIES/ LOCUSLUX' catalog Locuslux, Brussels, BE
Awards 2009 Wim Izaks Stipend 2008 (http://www.stichtingwimizaks.nl/)
The jury of the Wim Izaks Prize consists of Rob Smolders (chairman of the Wim Izaks Foundation), Jan Keuning, Cees Hoogstad, Moniek Peters and Reinoud van Vught.
Jury report : "In his work, Jaap de Vries is seeking not only the trivial but also what is generally considered to be either banal or morally reprehensible. His objective here is not to shock or deliberately depict the world as being ugly. Instead, by refusing to avoid triviality, he considers that he is actively creating space for desires that would otherwise be suppressed. His painting constitutes the expression of these desires. It has undergone a spectacular development over the last few years where the depiction of landscapes with no apparent subject matter has led to the discovery of greater visual potential. By painting with watercolours on offset plates - a laborious and unpredictable technique -he has produced an exquisite and transparent colour palette that could not have been achieved in any other way. Jaap de Vries has also succeeded in creating a strong link between his themes and his working method. This results in a restrained drama of exceptional quality."
Jury rapport (Dutch language) : ,,De Vries zoekt in zijn werk naar het triviale, dat wat algemeen banaal wordt gevonden of moreel verwerpelijk. Het gaat er hem niet om te shockeren of de wereld met opzet lelijk voor te stellen. Hij is ervan overtuigd dat hij, door het triviale niet uit de weg te gaan, juist ruimte schept voor verlangens die onder andere omstandigheden onderdrukt blijven. Zijn schilderkunst is de uitdrukking van die verlangens. Daarin heeft hij de afgelopen jaren een opzienbarende ontwikkeling doorgemaakt'', luidt het juryrapport.
Press coverage
Statement
The basis of my work is painting and water-coloring. I also make films, photographs and sculptures. I am motivated by my experience ‘that the world in which I live does not tally with my desires'.
Art, I believe, enables me to create the space that allows those desires to come alive that in the world around me are subordinate or hidden. I like to experiment with different materials: paint, ink, rubber, photo/paper, purfoam, aluminium etc. I usually work on the standing format 200 x 150 cm. I have developed my own techniques, which involves working on paper and aluminium, with acrylics, cutting up shapes, and subsequently 'sticking' them back on the base with paint.
I use watercolors to create imperfect portraits, in which the mutilation is a metaphor for genuine experience. The watercolor shows that it is the paint itself that makes the wounds; the blood-flowing paint apparently has the capacity to do the same as real cutting. A face evidently still has the power to speak and to torment us with the question what experience it is hiding from us, and apparently the paint itself (and not the representation) is enough to convey this power. Unlike the moving images of a film, art (painting) allows us to experience the unreal as unreal and thereby creates an intimacy and rapport with our desires, in an atmosphere that allows us to become conscious of ourselves and our desires!
About the material choice Paint, acrylic and others is directly used on aluminium. A fairly uncommon choice of the material but aluminium enables the artist to use not only the surface 'as is', but treat it to create additional effects (bend, cut, scratch, etch etc). Natural light will enhance the painting. Aluminium plates are applied to professional aluminium frames. The artist has been working with the SBMK (Stichting Behoud Moderne Kunst) to ensure the use of aluminium is consistent with the requirements of contemporary art (conservation, documentation, presentation, restoration). | 
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