fenêtres [windows], herman de vries, 2005
herman de vries gives himself the mission, as an artist, of making an “experience possible”. By the installation of these stones, he opens a window onto the past and the invisible, thereby giving us access to a series of geological formations, a little glimpse of the rich variety contained in the mountains and a cosmic space.
“in most of my works, i am preoccupied with our first reality: nature. from my zero point of departure, i only show what there is, what is there. any modification, any addition is a superfluous extra. something personal, something that disturbs direct communication with the given thing.”
herman de vries* was born in 1931 in Alkmaar, in the Netherlands, and he lives and works in Eschenau, in Germany. His work has always been very closely related to the contemplation of nature. Gradually abandoning his work as a naturalist to devote himself to art, herman de vries strives, in his work, to show the universality of landscape and the primary reality of nature. His view of the world is strongly influenced by oriental philosophy (particularly Buddhist and Hindu) and by poetry.
*We comply with the artist’s wish to not use capital letters in his name.