herman de vries - to be all ways to be

Educated as a biologist and natural scientist, herman de vries has been working for more than sixty years on an uncommonly versatile oeuvre in which art, science and philosophy are juxtaposed with the reality of the world. His focus stems from natural processes and phenomena, presented by him as the primary, physical reality in which human existence is rooted. de vries gathers, orders, isolates and displays objects from nature, directing our attention to both the oneness and the diversity of the world surrounding us. The strength and richness of de vries’ oeuvre stems from the biotope that he has developed in his hometown of Eschenau (Germany) and the places he visited during his travels, including Venice.

The open, transparent and spatially poetic character of the Dutch pavilion in the Giardini in Venice built by Rietveld in 1954 symbolizes the rational and optimistically progressive way of thinking that prevailed during the first half of the Twentieth Century. The work of herman de vries, made from organic and natural materials counters this notion and attests to the idea that processes and phenomena in nature are too complex to explain in a rational manner.

The title of the exhibition to be all ways to be, expresses the idea that the experience of and reflection on human existence takes many divergent paths, none of which is superior or inferior to the other. Experienced through the eye, ear, body and nose, the works within the pavilion, the Giardini and at different locations within the Venetian Lagoon, will question existing definitions and positions with regard to nature and culture.

As part of the exhibition herman de vries has explored the physical and natural surroundings of the city of Venice, the Giardini and the Lagoon. With his 108 piece giornale di venezia he will bring this context into the Dutch pavilion. He also invites the art public to take notice of the habitat: special boat trips will bring people to de vries’s sanctuarium: natura mater at the Lazaretto Vecchio, an uninhabited, historically important island south of the City.

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