SURVIVE YOURSELF, 2021

Unraveling oneself

Photo: Marit Hazebroek in the workshop of Marjet Röling

SURVIVE YOURSELF, 2021

My art installation, SURVIVE YOURSELF will be shown during the art fair Art The Hague from October 2nd till October 6th, in booth 26 of CuratedArtWork

SURVIVE YOURSELF is an invitation to sit down on the rocking chair and take the words dangling above your head into consideration; embrace any possible discomfort, soothe your soul, or be curious, peel off layer-by-layer what resides in your mind and body.

I myself moved between worlds, disciplines, and quite literally physical locations. Moving out of the city, where I was born, raised and worked to the countryside, made me rethink my values, my knowledge and with that my self.

‘I doubt, therefore I am’ – Descartes

IRENIC vases

My series of IRENIC vases, which come to be through my collaboration with Cor Unum Ceramics will be also be included in the CuratedArtWork presentation during Art The Hague
My visual art anchored in a century-old craft, with the ‘Irenic’ vases series of five new artworks.

Irenic: aiming at peace (from the Greek word eirene, peace)

Photo: Liesbeth Disbergen in my studio

YOU ARE A FEAST FOR MY SENSES, 2023

photo: Dana Savic

Legends & Legacy

Cor Unum celebrates 70th anniversary with extensive plate collection

Ceramic studio Cor Unum is lavishly celebrating its 70th anniversary with an exhibition in the beating heart of Milan during the Salone del Mobile, from 18-23 April 2023. For this, Cor Unum asked no fewer than 70 young and renowned creatives to design a plate with the theme Legends & Legacy. Never before has Milan showcased work by so many designers, artists, architects and other makers in one exhibition in a colourful ensemble of plates from Alessandro Mendini to Claudy Jongstra.

Cor Unum’s curator Lotte Landsheer was looking for a way to celebrate seventy years of the ceramics studio’s history, taking the dinner plate as a starting point and asking everyone with whom it has collaborated to create a design which was applied to the plates with transfers. “All the makers have the same carrier, but the designs could hardly be more varied,” she says.

_______________________________

YOU ARE A FEAST FOR MY SENSES, Birgit Verwer 2023

About being seen and to stay amazed.

To acknowledge the value of people, recources and the planet; intergenerational.

We all can promote that, you and me, (Cor Unum =) one heart

_______________________________

YOU ARE A FEAST FOR MY SENSES, 2023
Part of the exhibition
Legends & Legacy – Cor Unum Ceramics 70 years
during Salone del Mobile 2023 in Milan

Location:
Alcova April 18 – 23, 2023
Viale Molise 62, Milan

Alcova Milano

Photo: DSL Studio

For those not going to Milan or wanting to see the plate collection again: the exhibition Legends & Legacy opens at Cor Unum in Den Bosch on 25 May 2023. The plate will also be for sale in my webshop and at the Cor Unum Ceramics shop in Den Bosch. Afterwards, the exhibition will travel on to Dutch Design Week Eindhoven and Big Art Amsterdam, among others.

Visit my webshop to purchase your plate ‘You Are a Feast for My Senses’ here…

Art installation ‘Final Rehearsal (ESPRIT DE CORPS)’

Curator Marie Jeanne de Rooij presents fifteen artists who live, work or have been trained in the Netherlands. Artists who are innovative and visionary, who do not shy away from experimentation and who surprise.

In short: artists who are real forerunners (voorlopers in Dutch). The artworks display a diverse selection of contemporary art. In addition to ‘real’ sculptures, the works explore the boundaries of diverse art disciplines such as bio-design, video art and robotics.

Participating artists: Atelier Van Lieshout (AVL), David Bade, Cecilia Bengtsson, BuroLdR, Iliada Charalambous, Ivan Cremer, Bram Ellens, Groenewoud/Buij, Bob Hendrikx, Marjan Laaper, Silvia Martes, Ingrid Mol, Zeger Reyers, Lennart Lahuis, Birgit Verwer

The art installation ‘Final Rehearsal (ESPRIT DE CORPS)’ is exhibited for the first time during the VOORLOPERS art exhibition, at Soestdijk Palace, Baarn, the Netherlands.

Final Rehearsal (ESPRIT DE CORPS), 2022

“Do we still have time for a final rehearsal? Can we pass on our planet with propriety to the generations to come?

For future generations, we must keep the rudder straight to preserve a habitable and livable planet. But where do we go, which direction to take?

We all have to do it, together and collaboratively, even if we have different perspectives, sometimes back to back, consultatively, and put your shoulders to the wheel.”

The art installation Final Rehearsal (ESPRIT DE CORPS) is inspired by the late nineteenth-century so-called ‘lice benches’ (public seating double benches: sitting back-to-back) in The Hague, which can still be found on the Lange Voorhout, right in front of the former Royal work palace Lange Voorhout.

This version, a composition of the ‘do-it-yourself’ bench Panca by the renowned Italian designer Enzo Mari, is made of wind-sawn Douglas wood from Royal Estates De Horsten in Wassenaar.

click image to see more

present the series:

Irenic

My art anchored in a century-old craft, with a series of five new art pieces. In collaboration with the experts at Cor Unum ceramics in ‘s-Hertogenbosch (NL) we developed a vase, inspired by the form of vase I worked with during my artist in residency in China.
Only through the close collaboration with, and the work ethics and values of the people at Cor Unum, my new series of Irenic* vases came to be.

*Irenic: aiming at peace; from the Greek word ‘eirene’ (peace)

LINDA. NEVER EVER FIT THE MOULD

My Irenic vases are featured in the October 2021 issue of LINDA. magazine (208), including the picture of Irenic III – NEVER EVER FIT THE MOULD.

Making ceramics is a craft and one of the oldest art forms in the world. The first painted and decorated vases from far before our era give us an idea of ​​the daily life of that time.

The fact that we have this knowledge is due to the almost indestructible nature of pottery. It may break into shards, but will survive the test of time. It can withstand the elements and the harshest conditions.

What if our current pottery turns up at an archaeological site hundreds of years from now? What will future generations learn about us? In the series ‘Irenic’, contemporary personal and social issues are both title and work of art.

About the ‘Irenic’ series

In my work I make use of existing materials, shapes and objects trouvés. The titles of my artworks are always as important as the artwork itself.

During my artist-in-residence in China, I found a fitting vase among hundreds of different existing shapes and moulds, which could be both a medium and a carrier of my art, which caused title and the work itself to become symbiotic.

In the series “Irenic”, contemporary personal and social issues are both title and the work of art.

ENCOMPASS – new Artist Book 2021

click image to see more

ENCOMPASS
Artist book
By Birgit Verwer
Limited edition of 100

ISBN: 9 789 090 352 404

“A very dear friend told me that everything starts with getting the right questions out there; According to him good questions last your entire life, the answers can change over time.

I decided not to make art for a few years. I’ve used this time to do extensive research on matters which are close to my heart. From questioning “the norm” and the constructs of our society to the problems we are facing on a global scale, for example our climate.

The COVID-19 pandemic, two major Dutch lockdowns and the way the government and society devalue the arts made it clearer than ever, I felt the urgency to make art arise again.

2021 was a pressure cooker for my art practice. So it was due time for a new artist book. With a modest tour through my brain, my inspiration, my research, my artistic process and my new artworks; the series Irenic of five vases in collaboration with Cor Unum Ceramics and my new triptych art installation Viriditas.”

  • Language: English
  • Risograph printed cover on ecoFIBRE metapaper
  • Pamphlet stitched
  • 48 pages on wood-free, acid-free and chlorine-free produced paper

    available in the shop

New art installation ‘Viriditas’ at Big Art 2021 exhibition (09/30 – 10/03)

New art installation ‘Viriditas’ exhibited at the 2021 edition of Big Art. Viriditas was on view at a unique location with monumental industrial buildings at the Hembrug in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. A former ammunition factory hall is the backdrop for XL and XXL contemporary artworks.

Thursday September 30 – Sunday October 3
Check BIGART.NU for more info…

Viriditas, 2021

When it comes to our host, planet earth, do you believe that you are being a good guest? Like all other living organisms we are programmed for two things only; perpetuate the indivdual and perpetuate the species. We also know that our brain can’t handle and oversee a timespan of more than 70 years. Is our programmed brain capable to act on the global issues that can no longer be ignored?

Three designclassic chairs turned into rocking chairs that invite you to take a seat. Do we still have time for that or should we make time? Do we soothe our souls or allow ourselves to think about what is really being asked of us?

‘Viriditas’ is a reminder of the importance of our connection to nature and comes from the Latin words for ‘GREEN’ and ‘TRUTH’. (Hildegard von Bingen, 12th century AD)  

 

click image to see more