Jaap de Vries

About

ANTI-POLITICS OF THE BODY

I'm a committed anti-political artist.

My oeuvre comprises bodies created through a variety of techniques along with classical motifs that are treated as bodies. For me, politics (and especially the politics of religion) concern the way in which bodies are defined and manipulated by fear. My rejection of this is based on a strict Calvinist upbringing where - rather than being a natural part of the human condition - desire generated through images, physical pleasure and nudity belongs to the dark side of humanity, to the “reign of darkness”. In this climate of moral bigotry and basic hypocrisy, one must suppress the wish to show or see what is “doomed”, “cursed” or quite simply inconvenient.

I believe that this “reign of darkness” constitutes the betrayal of tolerance and true innocence. To exorcise this, I create images that are supremely corporeal. Hence, for me a particular room, space or landscape is always the scene of a crime rather than a romanticised place of comfort, as propagated by the politics of commerce. Similarly, eroticism in my work is invariably accompanied by its twin: death.

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Jaap de Vries creates watercolours of scenarios that are simultaneously disturbing and enthralling. In his latest work, everything seems to be underwater. You observe the contours - which condense into vague body shapes - purely schematically. These forms dissolve and appear mutilated. Yet de Vries’s visual universe is also saturated with a morbid beauty.

On careful inspection, you will notice that his paintings can be read as statements about the world. This is because the ostensibly innocent motifs such as fish, landscapes, nudes, interior views and historical portraits of women all function as scenes where crimes have occurred.

De Vries regards himself as being a committed anti-political artist. Nonetheless, in a commentary accompanying his paintings, he describes his personal view of politics. Specifically: it entails the way in which bodies are defined and manipulated by fear. However, by displaying bodies in all their vulnerability, he reveals precisely those awkward aspects that are airbrushed away by political hypocrisy. In fact, when seen in this way, Jaap de Vries is an extremely political artist.

Dr. Stefanie Lucci

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Jaap de Vries schafft mit seinen Aquarellen beunruhige Szenerien, die trotzdem in den Bann ziehen. In neuen Arbeiten scheint alles unter Wasser zu sein, nur schemenhaft nimmt man Konturen wahr, die sich zu nicht klar bezeichneten Körpern verdichten. Die Formen lösen sich auf, wirken verstümmelt. Zugleich durchzieht eine morbide Schönheit die Bildwelten de Vries.
Bei genauerer Betrachtung fällt auf, dass sich seine Malereien als Statements über die Welt lesen lassen. Denn die scheinbar harmlosen Motive wie Fische, Landschaften, Akte, Frauenporträts der Kunstgeschichte oder Raumsituationen wirken wie Tatorte. De Vries bezeichnet sich selbst als überzeugten anti-politischen Künstler. Nichtsdestoweniger schreibt er in einem Kommentar zu seinen Malereien, was für ihn Politik ausmacht: nämlich die Art und Weise, wie Körper mittels Angst eingefangen und manipuliert werden. Indem er Körper aber in ihrer Verletztheit in Szene setzt, zeigt er genau diejenigen unbequemen Aspekte, die von einer bigotten Politik weggeheuchelt werden. So gesehen ist Jaap de Vries durchaus ein hochpolitischer Künstler.
http://www.artists.de/featured-kuratiert.php

Jaap de Vries creëert met zijn aquarellen verontrustende scenario’s waarvan wij toch in de ban raken. In zijn nieuwe werk lijkt alles onder water te staan. Men neemt de contouren, die verdichten tot onhelder aangeduide lichamen, slechts schematisch waar. De vormen lossen op, maken een verminkte indruk. Tegelijkertijd wordt de beeldwereld van de Vries doortrokken van een morbide schoonheid.

Bij nauwkeurige waarneming valt op dat je zijn schilderijen kunt lezen als statements over de wereld. Want de schijnbaar onschuldige motieven als vissen, landschappen, naakten, vrouwenportretten uit de kunstgeschiedenis en interieurscènes werken als plaatsen waar een misdrijf is gepleegd. De Vries ziet zichzelf als overtuigd antipolitieke kunstenaar. Toch schrijft hij in een commentaar bij zijn schilderijen wat politiek voor hem betekent: namelijk de manier waarop lichamen door angst worden vastgezet en gemanipuleerd. Doordat hij echter de lichamen in hun kwetsbaarheid ensceneert laat hij precies die ongemakkelijke aspecten zien die door een schijnheilige politiek worden weggehuicheld. Zo gezien is Jaap de Vries juist wel een zeer politieke kunstenaar.

Dr. Stefanie Lucci … Read More

Location: Breda, Noord Brabant, Netherlands
Website: http://www.jaapdevries.eu

Work

Taken from the correspondence between Jaap de Vries and Leon Willigendael, May 2011

''(...) Also my work is exclusively about bodies. The very fact of the materials I use means that it’s more body than image. I interpret my visual motifs in bodily terms even if they are landscapes. Somehow a shadow always creeps in, wanting to turn everything into a crime scene or corpus delicti. It’s about a world dictated by dread, a fear that manipulates and traps bodies, and sweeps their mere suggestion under the carpet. Even something as simple but corporal as a bit of paint on aluminum is unacceptable in that world. Yet this is precisely what makes painting all the more attractive for me.
“Thanks to a Calvinist upbringing, I used to experience the dark side of what I’m describing (…) as being religiously driven. But now I simply regard it as being a politics of fear. The regime of representations that this kind of politics supports is morally sanctimonious: a hypocrisy that demands that anything too corporal should not be shown. And if it is shown and not covered up, then as if it’s in a garishly lit brothel and with the sole purpose of being used and lovelessly condemned. This purely concerns the images; reality is apparently much less important. Condemnation ultimately suffices; that’s all that’s required. So far as I’m concerned, this is where the betrayal of true innocence begins. It is precisely that kind of betrayal that causes darkness, mental deprivation and fear. For all kinds of reasons, that fear is also directed against the true art of painting. True attention, which can belong here, is - as we know - more feared than what you describe as “the rising tide of images”. Call it quixotic if you will, but in my opinion, the antidote to this involves a homeopathic exorcism. This generates an uncomfortable mirror. My venture could be seen as cynical or ironic, sarcastic or nihilist, and this is something that I’m painfully aware of. But the gaze defining this is also dictated by the accusing, normative gaze that I wish to ensnare. My work is not at all loveless. On the contrary. I find it fascinating that the politics of fear entails such a distorted gaze, and what’s even more fascinating is the resistance to painting that it engenders. Painting is quite simply an endeavour but, at the end of the day, it’s my stubbornly pursued, anti-political endeavour.

The shadow and the gaze that I’m describing are one and the same. Part of my venture is to chart the representations that they attach themselves to. I used to believe that the gaze and the shadow came from God but I now know that it’s our own godlessness. This godlessness is little more than a rejection of what makes us human. We know that, as an art, painting has always been part of our humanity. And that’s the way it will stay. If believing in it is a delusion, then everything we consider humane is also a delusion. I would rather exist in that lunacy than in the lunacy that denies what makes us human beings.”

Jaap de Vries

Nederlands-Engels vertaling/Dutch-English translation: Annie Wright

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Education

2012 ‘How to Paint Stolen Desires’ Appels Gallery Ams. NL solo-
2012 ‘Monkey gone to heaven’. Pili Pili Art Gallery, Knokke BE. solo-
2012 KunstRai, Amsterdam, Galerie Anderwereld
2012 ‘Merging Bridges’, YARRAT! Baku, Azerbaijan groeps-
2012 ‘NO Zap NO Scan’ Appels Gallery Amsterdam groeps-
2012 ‘Hedendaags Arcadië’ Luycks Gallery, Tilburg, groeps -
2012 ‘Up My Street’, The Coningsby Gallery London UK.
2011 Pertwee Anderson & Gold gallery London UK. 7th October to 27th October
2010 ‘CUT’ 20 HOXTON SQUARE PROJECTS , Londen, UK, solo.
2010 ‘CUT & PASTE LOCUSLUX Gallery, Amsterdam, solo.
2010 ‘DARK MATTER’ LOCUSLUX Gallery Brussel, solo.
2009 ‘OOG in OOG’ Stichting KOP, Breda, NL.
2009 ‘ONE CAN OFTEN BE THWARTED BY …’, Prima Alonso, London UK.
2009 ‘Signatuur, kunstenaars/ collectie 1800 - heden’, Bredaas Museum, Breda, NL.
2009 ‘nieuw werk’, Gallery Majke Hüsstege, Den Bosch, NL.
2009 ‘Wim Izaksstipend’ Pictura, Dordrecht/ Tricot, Winterswijk, NL.
2009 ‘Under the influence’ auction-sale Phillips de Pury, NYC, USA.
2008 ‘DUTCH LIGHT’* , LOCUSLUX, Brussels, BE.
2008 ‘SCOPE BASEL’, Saatchi Online, SW.
2008 ‘I Pity Inanimate Objects’*, Planet Art, Amsterdam, NL.
2008 ‘Kapellmeister Pulls a Doozy’, Seven Seven Contemporary Art, London, UK.
2008 ‘new work’*, Pili Pili Art Gallery, Knokke, BE.
2007 ‘Decadence, Decay and Demimonde’, the Home House, London, UK.
2007 ‘The only body of importance to us….’*, 20 Hoxton Square, London, UK.

Publicaties:
2010 ‘CUT & PASTE’ LOCUSLEX 04
2009 ‘Benjamin Roth, Houcine Bouchiba, Jaap de Vries’, Wim Izaks Stipend 2008
2009 reviews in NRC, TROUW e.o. because of the Wim Izaks Stipend
2009 ‘Kunst is net zoiets als oorlog’, Brabant Cultureel #3, text by Cocky van Bokhoven, NL.
2009 ‘De boekenkast van… Jaap de Vries’, KUNSTBEELD #5, text by Sandra Jongenelen, NL.
2009 ‘SHINE ON’, Artists & Illustrators April ‘09, interview by William Delmont, UK.
2008 ‘JAAP DE VRIES/ LOCUSLUX’, LOCUSLUX Brussel, BE.

Award:
2009 Wim Izaks Stipendium 2008 (http://www.stichtingwimizaks.nl/)
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