* 1931 in Alkmaar, The Netherlands. Lives and works in Unterfranken, Germany
Dutch artist
Known for: Art works made of objects found in the nature and botanical materials such as leaves, dried plants, minerals.
Art historical context: ZERO Group
Exhibited works
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wit - weiss, 1967. GF | B | Edition Hansjörg Mayer, Stuttgart, An edition of 500 numbered copies, 15.9 x 12 cm. A book with blank pages and an "introduction" without words. | |
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wit - white, 1980. GF | B
| Artists Press, Bern, Edition of 100,21 x 15 cm. Book with blank pages, with a text on a paper band around the book's cover. The history of this artist's books can be traced back to the year 1960. On the one hand, it is closely related to the ZERO group; on the other hand, fascinated by the Buddhist concept of emptiness, the artist had already created a number of white monochromes before he published a twenty-page manifesto in Arnhem. It has no title, and the cover and the pages are blank, unprinted. It contains nothing but a short final poem that celebrates the superiority of white in four languages: "wit is overdaad" ("white is overly powerful"). In 1962, this manifesto was published in the form of an artist book titled Wit. It contains two hundred blank pages, four white collages by the artist, and an "introduction" by the poet J.C. van Schagen, which is also left blank. (Published by MJ Israel in Arnhem; edition: only five copies). In 1967, a second, revised edition titled wit weiss was published by Hansjörg Mayer in a paperback edition of five hundred copies, each containing two hundred and fifty blank pages. The only printed elements on the cover were the name of the artist, the title, and the name of the publisher. The word "introduction" and the name of the author appear on the first page; there is an imprint on the last page. In Berne in 1980, de vries published a "third revised edition" in a larger format, with even more blank pages. The original title, wit, was translated into English, as well as into Japanese and Sanskrit with a word that means "white" in the sense of bright, pure, and immaculate. The title itself does not appear in the book, which is completely empty. The title is printed on a wide strip of paper that is evocative of a removable advertising strip. The first inner blurb contains a short statement that dates from the 1962 edition and explains that the book contains all aspects of reality. Only one hundred of the five thousand announced copies were ever printed. On April 1, 2012, the artist made a comment on his book, stressing the importance of the final comma: White is white 0 = 0 no name no idea not even void,
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| Links hermandevries.org | Galerie Aline Vidal | Galerie Müller-Roth | Galerie Conrads | Lydia Megerts Editions | Further informations
Credits All reproductions are courtesy of the artist © herman de vries | ||