The Surinamese sculptor and painter Erwin de Vries (1929) turns eighty in December 2009. Kunsthal Rotterdam honours ‘The Grand Old Master' from Surinam with a survey exhibition.
Over one hundred and fifty works - amongst which paintings, drawings and sculptures that have been made from the Fifties up to present - provide the visitors with an all-round picture of his elaborate oeuvre. In his work the human figure, and more particularly women, take up central position. Erwin de Vries is mainly renowned for his portraits of famous Dutch people, including Joop den Uyl, Simon Carmiggelt, Ivo Opstelten and many others, and also for the design of the National Monument of the Slavery which was realized in the Oosterpark in Amsterdam in 2002.
Colourful an Expressive
De Vries' imagery language is connected to the language used by COBRA artists. His works are excessively colourful, expressive and painted in a direct way. With powerful strokes of the painting brush he portrays women in passionate and very often erotic poses. Both sensuality and dynamics characterize his works: organic lines on canvas and fiercely sculptured figures made from bronze. In his works he combines both figurative and stylized abstract forms.
Erwin de Vries is known as a productive and intense artist. In 1984 he returned to Surinam and has lived there ever since. There, in his native country, he continuously gets new inspiration. His artistic expression has clearly developed over the years and has become stronger and more tropical due to the fierce tropical sun, the variety of colours and the fascinating mix of all the different cultures present in Surinam.
The exhibition is on display at the Surinamese Museum, Fort Zeelandia, Paramaribo, from 21 December 2009 up to 28 February 2010.
