Hermann de Vries – from earth

Hermann de Vries (born Alkmaar, Netherlands, 1931) is a Dutch artist best known for his nature and land art. Often consisting of natural materials such as earth, plants or stones, his works explore the relationship between humans and nature. He takes a scientifically precise yet poetic approach to his work, collecting found objects and arranging them in serial compositions. As early as 1962, he exhibited at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam as a co-founder of the ‘nul’ group. In 2015, de Vries represented the Netherlands at the Venice Biennale. Under the title To Be All Ways To Be, he exhibited sculptures, objects, works on paper, and photographs in the Dutch Pavilion. Simultaneously, his work was featured in major ZERO exhibitions at the Gropius Bau in Berlin and the Guggenheim Museum in New York. Today, de Vries’s work is held in the collections of the world’s most renowned institutions.

For this edition, Hermann de Vries created a series of 40 sketches of the earth, in the style of his renowned erasures. These sketches paint a fascinatingly multi-layered portrait of Switzerland. Rather than reflecting his own personality, they are a direct imprint of nature itself – here, the earth speaks through its own traces. Having visited Switzerland numerous times, the artist has always been fascinated by the diversity and richness of colour of its soils. While he had previously collected these himself, this time he made the project participatory: he called on the population to collect soil samples and hand them over to him. He supplemented this collection with items from his extensive soil archive. Each work is titled ‘From Earth’, followed by the location where it was found and the artist’s signature.

herman de vries

from earth, 2016

Earth engraving on paper

Unique series of 40 exclusive works

Size 221 × 308 mm including frame

Edition sold out