Auke de Vries

Some recent solo exhibitions
Museum Wiesbaden, Wiesbaden 2009, 'Auke de Vries: Intervention'
Galerie Borzo, Amsterdam 2007, 'Auke de Vries'
Stroom, The Hague 2006, 'Auke de Vries: After the Rain/Slow Speed Paradise'
Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, The Hague 2000, 'Auke de Vries: kostuumontwerpen voor een Fries leger'

Some recent group exhibitions
Daimler Contemporary, Berlin 2009, 'Drawing Sculpture: Zeichnung, Skulptur, Video aus der Daimler Kunst Sammlung'
Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, 2009, 'Art Minded V: Ron Klein Breteler collection'
SMAK, Ghent 2009, 'Sculpturaal – Collectietentoonstelling'
Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst, Leipzig 2007, 'Deutsche Geschichten'

Selected publications
Auke de Vries: Eine Skulptur für Wiesbaden, Wiesbaden: Museum Wiesbaden 2008
Arno van Roosmalen, Fulya Erdemci, Auke de Vries: After the rain, The Hague: Stroom 2006
Hans Locher [et al.], Auke de Vries: Paris, sculptures et grands projets, Paris: Institut Néerlandais 2002

Selected public and corporate collections
Museum Het Valkhof, Nijmegen, NL • Museum Henriette Polak, Zutphen, NL • AMC, NL • Kunstcollectie KPN, NL • TNT Post Kunstcollectie, NL • SMAK, Ghent BE • Daimler Contemporary, DE • Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst, Leipzig DE • Kunstmuseum Magdeburg, DE

In the 1970s, Auke de Vries started to make small three-dimensional models intended as an aid in his graphic work. They soon started to lead a life of their own, developing into independent sculptures. Based on observations of reality, De Vries photographs and makes sketches in natural and urban environments which he transforms into abstract images. After 1980, De Vries literally began to explore space, suspending separate elements ingeniously in the air. In his works he creates a feeling of tension, combining lines, planes and volumes. A characteristic of the work of De Vries is that where scale and representativity are called for, he reacts with 'drawings' in space; abstract volumes and structures with an unpredictable, quirky presence. In addition to his commissioned work, De Vries has produced a considerable body of personal, autonomous sculptures that are regularly exhibited throughout Europe.

Auke de Vries is for about ten years a former advisor at the Rijksakademie; he curated the Rijksakademie exhibition 'Het eigen gezicht' in Museum Beelden aan Zee (Scheveningen) in 1997.
De Vries was presented with the Cultuurprijs by the City of The Hague (2005).