Atelier Van Lieshout

The gesamtkunstwerk The End of Everything is the artist’s reflection on art, the current market climate and a comment on human consumption patterns. With this work, Joep van Lieshout would like to ‘blaze a trail through this imbalance, to destroy and renew, start again with what is good – to recycle’.

The installation consists of a group of raw, industrial artworks – Der Fliegende Holländer, The Press, The Hammer and The Shredder. These may be interpreted as machines for either construction or destruction, as a negative or positive force, as a break from tradition and a change for the future. The primary goal is to recycle, be it scrap, consumer goods, artworks, even Joep van Lieshout’s own creations.

“This kiss is our primitive needs in a cubist style. It is made from Corten steel which will rust on the surface in contrast with normal steel which will disappear over the years. You can leave this kiss outside for hundreds of years.” Joep Van Lieshout

Enquiries via Carpenters Workshop Gallery

“Fertility. The first sculptures ever were of fertility sculptures. This one has three legs so I guess that it has a penis. From a biological point, if you bring back what is the goal of the human as a species is to keep on living, eating, and reproduce. Theoretically you can die after you reproduce.” Joep van Lieshout

Enquiries via Carpenters Workshop Gallery

A portrait of an early morning with family, this is a sculpture about love.

Enquiries via Carpenters Workshop Gallery

Deer Lamp refers to the origin of human beings, humankind’s earliest art works found in cave paintings which celebrated hunting, surviving, eating, and atavistic worship of nature. Inspired by pictures of animals that survived the millennia, this belongs to The New Tribal Labyrinth, a body of work about returning back to the future and finding new rituals and solutions for the future while honouring our humble beginnings.

Enquiries via Carpenters Workshop Gallery

“This is the most essential way of drawing a figure related to the first human expressions.” Joep Van Lieshout

Enquiries via Carpenters Workshop Gallery

Steel

Cage consists out of three steel cages, which have been pressed together and pulled apart. This process has transformed the rational and strict geometry of the original cages to become an organic and fictile-looking sculpture that immediately questions the notion of freedom.

Atelier Van Lieshout’s work often refers to systems in which mankind functions today. This work too considers those systems and encourages the viewer to reflect on the role of mankind within the societal, political and economic systems. Humans now wish to free themselves from the exact same systems, hoping to break free from what they have brought upon themselves.

Cage (2017) was part of the following exhibition(s):
– ‘Vrijplaats bij MIJ’, Museum IJsselstein, IJsselstein (NL), 2019
– ‘Façade‘, Middelburg (NL), 2017

For enquiries: please contact Atelier Van Lieshout via info@ateliervanlieshout.com

The starting point for Les Acrobates is the notion of collaboration, science and creativity, which is central to its location, next to the research centre Inria in Saclay, Île-de-France. The work is made from galvanised steel, after which it was deformed by hydraulic presses in a controlled, uncontrolled manner, and welded. The result is a playful, happy double human form built on top of one another. Just like in science and research, this work of art was created by a process of trial and error.

Les Acrobates symbolises collaboration and solidarity. With a mirrored double human figure, the work refers to an equilibrium, a constant and familiar structure. But also, it shows a moment of successful completion, a breakthrough – the irrational process that follows scientific research. The sculpture is an homage to the intangible which forms the basis of everything, but especially of science: creativity, imagination and dreams.

Steel
62 cm x 55 cm x 220 cm

The gesamtkunstwerk The End of Everything is the artist’s reflection on art, the current market climate and a comment on human consumption patterns. With this work, Joep van Lieshout would like to ‘blaze a trail through this imbalance, to destroy and renew, start again with what is good – to recycle’.

The installation consists of a group of raw, industrial artworks – Der Fliegende Holländer, The Press, The Hammer and The Shredder. These may be interpreted as machines for either construction or destruction, as a negative or positive force, as a break from tradition and a change for the future. The primary goal is to recycle, be it scrap, consumer goods, artworks, even Joep van Lieshout’s own creations.

Calgon (2017) was part of the following exhibition(s):
‘The Clock Which Will Solve Every Problem in the World’, Kunstraum Dornbirn (AT), 2020
‘Ferrotopia’, NDSM, Amsterdam (NL), 2018

For enquiries: please contact Atelier Van Lieshout via info@ateliervanlieshout.com

Steel
84 cm x 57 cm x 192 cm

Mensch (2017) was part of the following exhibition(s):
‘The Clock Which Will Solve Every Problem in the World’, Kunstraum Dornbirn (AT), 2020

For enquiries: please contact Atelier Van Lieshout via info@ateliervanlieshout.com

Washing machine, steel
140 cm x 95 cm x 177 cm

The gesamtkunstwerk The End of Everything is the artist’s reflection on art, the current market climate and a comment on human consumption patterns. With this work, Joep van Lieshout would like to ‘blaze a trail through this imbalance, to destroy and renew, start again with what is good – to recycle’. The installation consists of a group of raw, industrial artworks – Der Fliegende Holländer, The Press, The Hammer and The Shredder. These may be interpreted as machines for either construction or destruction, as a negative or positive force, as a break from tradition and a change for the future. The primary goal is to recycle, be it scrap, consumer goods, artworks, even Joep van Lieshout’s own creations.

Le Balzac (2017) was part of the following exhibition(s):
‘The Clock Which Will Solve Every Problem in the World’, Kunstraum Dornbirn (AT), 2020

For enquiries: please contact Atelier Van Lieshout via info@ateliervanlieshout.com

Steel
40 cm x 71 cm x 203 cm

The gesamtkunstwerk The End of Everything is the artist’s reflection on art, the current market climate and a comment on human consumption patterns. With this work, Joep van Lieshout would like to ‘blaze a trail through this imbalance, to destroy and renew, start again with what is good – to recycle’.

The installation consists of a group of raw, industrial artworks – Der Fliegende Holländer, The Press, The Hammer and The Shredder. These may be interpreted as machines for either construction or destruction, as a negative or positive force, as a break from tradition and a change for the future. The primary goal is to recycle, be it scrap, consumer goods, artworks, even Joep van Lieshout’s own creations.

Birds (2017) was part of the following exhibition(s):
‘State of Extremes’, Design Museum, Holon (IL), 2019

Mixed media
115 cm x 100 cm x 205 cm

The gesamtkunstwerk The End of Everything is the artist’s reflection on art, the current market climate and a comment on human consumption patterns. With this work, Joep van Lieshout would like to ‘blaze a trail through this imbalance, to destroy and renew, start again with what is good – to recycle’.

The installation consists of a group of raw, industrial artworks – Der Fliegende Holländer, The Press, The Hammer and The Shredder. These may be interpreted as machines for either construction or destruction, as a negative or positive force, as a break from tradition and a change for the future. The primary goal is to recycle, be it scrap, consumer goods, artworks, even Joep van Lieshout’s own creations.

As a result from Bronco, a hydraulic press that can destroy everyday object and transform them intro new artworks, Daalderop was created.

Daalderop (2017) was part of the following exhibition(s):
‘The Clock Which Will Solve Every Problem in the World’, Kunstraum Dornbirn (AT), 2020
‘Der Hausfreund’, Galerie Krinzinger, Vienna (AT), 2016

For enquiries: please contact Atelier Van Lieshout via info@ateliervanlieshout.com

Aluminium

The owl has symbolised wisdom since the ancient Greeks. It is rooted in nature and reproduces by laying eggs, but under the influence of rational, scientific thinking it has become more angular.
The Philosopher is one of four characters that constitute an AVL-designed new world order. Death, The Artist, The Leader and The Philosopher are idols for the future.

Philosopher (2017) was part of the following exhibition(s):
‘Let’s Get Physical’, Atelier Van Lieshout, Rotterdam (NL), 2020
‘ArtZuid’, Amsterdam (NL), 2019
‘Ferrotopia’, NDSM, Amsterdam (NL), 2018

In his new body of work CryptoFuturism Joep van Lieshout revisits the Italian Futurists a century later to look at resonances between emerging Fascist tendencies today, using his art to reveal the interplay between Utopia and destruction. Van Lieshout embraces emerging technologies from genetic manipulation to robotics and big data to draw parallels between the societal threats faced in the early 20th century and the perhaps graver circumstances we face today. Starting his research by building huge machines in order to destroy or recycle all possible materials, Joep van Lieshout deconstructs notions of sustainability with techno modernist speed, playing a dangerous game with nostalgia for bygone political theorems.

Fog Horn is a work in process and forms an eternal automatic orchestra.

Fog Horn (2017) was part of the following exhibition(s):
‘Ferrotopia’, NDSM, Amsterdam (NL), 2018

Pulse is an interactive installation which aims to engage the inhabitants of Graz and to be at the heart of the community, expressing the pulse, the life of the city. The artwork is as a beacon, sending out lightsignals. These lightsignals will ‘beat’ to the same ‘rhytym’ as the pulse of a human heart. Every time a child is born in the Graz – which is approximately 11 times a day – the pulse and the intensity of the light will become stronger.

With this artwork, Atelier Van Lieshout wants to create a poetic collective moment for the citizens of Graz. Every time Pulse’s light intensifies, the artwork will celebrate the beginning of a human life, a new member of the community added. The artwork will enhance the existing sense of community, both by creating a collective experience and by serving as a physical landmark.

The gesamtkunstwerk The End of Everything is the artist’s reflection on art, the current market climate and a comment on human consumption patterns. With this work, Joep van Lieshout would like to ‘blaze a trail through this imbalance, to destroy and renew, start again with what is good – to recycle’.

The installation consists of a group of raw, industrial artworks – The Roller (Der Fliegende Holländer), The Press, The Hammer and The Shredder. These may be interpreted as machines for either construction or destruction, as a negative or positive force, as a break from tradition and a change for the future. The primary goal is to recycle, be it scrap, consumer goods, artworks, even Joep van Lieshout’s own creations.

The Roller, the first work of the series, is a large roller, ready to flatten and compact the land.

Wood, steel
85 cm x 50 cm x 160 cm

The gesamtkunstwerk The End of Everything is the artist’s reflection on art, the current market climate and a comment on human consumption patterns. With this work, Joep van Lieshout would like to ‘blaze a trail through this imbalance, to destroy and renew, start again with what is good – to recycle’.

The installation consists of a group of raw, industrial artworks – Der Fliegende Holländer, The Press, The Hammer and The Shredder. These may be interpreted as machines for either construction or destruction, as a negative or positive force, as a break from tradition and a change for the future. The primary goal is to recycle, be it scrap, consumer goods, artworks, even Joep van Lieshout’s own creations.

Process 50 ton 50 mm (2016) was part of the following exhibition(s):
‘State of Extremes’, Design Museum, Holon (IL), 2019

For enquiries: please contact Atelier Van Lieshout via info@ateliervanlieshout.com

In his new body of work CryptoFuturism Joep van Lieshout revisits the Italian Futurists a century later to look at resonances between emerging Fascist tendencies today, using his art to reveal the interplay between Utopia and destruction. Van Lieshout embraces emerging technologies from genetic manipulation to robotics and big data to draw parallels between the societal threats faced in the early 20th century and the perhaps graver circumstances we face today. Starting his research by building huge machines in order to destroy or recycle all possible materials, Joep van Lieshout deconstructs notions of sustainability with techno modernist speed, playing a dangerous game with nostalgia for bygone political theorems.

Mixed media

In his new body of work CryptoFuturism Joep van Lieshout revisits the Italian Futurists a century later to look at resonances between emerging Fascist tendencies today, using his art to reveal the interplay between Utopia and destruction. Van Lieshout embraces emerging technologies from genetic manipulation to robotics and big data to draw parallels between the societal threats faced in the early 20th century and the perhaps graver circumstances we face today. Starting his research by building huge machines in order to destroy or recycle all possible materials, Joep van Lieshout deconstructs notions of sustainability with techno modernist speed, playing a dangerous game with nostalgia for bygone political theorems.

Stoplicht (2016) was part of the following exhibition(s):
‘Der Hausfreund’, Galerie Krinzinger, Vienna (AT), 2016

For enquiries: please contact Atelier Van Lieshout via info@ateliervanlieshout.com

Walking Stick I (2016)
Wood, steel, rope
35 cm x 28 cm x 197 cm

Walking Stick II (2016)
Wood, steel, rope
32 cm x 28 cm x 184 cm

Walking Stick III (2018)
Composite
42 cm x 40 cm x 202 cm

Walking Stick IV (2018)
Composite
22 cm x 20 cm x 174 cm

Walking Stick V  (2018)
Composite, glass
25 cm x 25 cm x 210 cm

Walking Stick VI (2018)
Aluminium, composite
25 cm x 25 cm x 166 cm

Joep van Lieshout has started to work on a new series of artworks entitled ‘CryptoFuturism’. With these works he wants to focus on the contrast, the longing for both the primitive and the progressive. The title refers to Futurism, the early 20th century cultural movement which wanted to change to world by applying technology and progress, and which glorified violence and war. The result of this conflict, however, was not the rise but the demise of the cultural significance of Futurism, and led the group to merge with the Fascist movement. Now as well as during the advent of Futurism, our world is undergoing significant technological and societal changes – globalization, terrorism, big data and smart technology – and populist, even fascist movements seem on the rise.

As part of this series, Van Lieshout has created two related staff-shaped “walking sticks”, sculptures that seem like scepters of wisdom. These refer to visionaries, forerunners who redeem the masses and lead the way into the future. One of the staffs shows an image of devotion, rationality and loss, whilst the other staff refers to primitivism and fertility. The staffs question the position of visionaries and prophets, and the steps one needs to take before reaching the way into the future.

Walking Sticks (2016-) was part of the following exhibition(s):
‘Vrijplaats bij MIJ’, Museum IJsselstein, IJsselstein (NL), 2019
‘Killing Time‘, Willem Twee, Den Bosch (NL), 2018

For enquiries: please contact Atelier Van Lieshout via info@ateliervanlieshout.com

In his new body of work CryptoFuturism Joep van Lieshout revisits the Italian Futurists a century later to look at resonances between emerging Fascist tendencies today, using his art to reveal the interplay between Utopia and destruction. Van Lieshout embraces emerging technologies from genetic manipulation to robotics and big data to draw parallels between the societal threats faced in the early 20th century and the perhaps graver circumstances we face today. Starting his research by building huge machines in order to destroy or recycle all possible materials, Joep van Lieshout deconstructs notions of sustainability with techno modernist speed, playing a dangerous game with nostalgia for bygone political theorems.

The Janus head: one side looks to the past, the other side to the future, representing history on a breaking point.

In his new body of work CryptoFuturism Joep van Lieshout revisits the Italian Futurists a century later to look at resonances between emerging Fascist tendencies today, using his art to reveal the interplay between Utopia and destruction. Van Lieshout embraces emerging technologies from genetic manipulation to robotics and big data to draw parallels between the societal threats faced in the early 20th century and the perhaps graver circumstances we face today. Starting his research by building huge machines in order to destroy or recycle all possible materials, Joep van Lieshout deconstructs notions of sustainability with techno modernist speed, playing a dangerous game with nostalgia for bygone political theorems.

Leemwerker is a monument to the strong, menial labourer, who toils the soil. He is submitted to nature, but at the same time submits nature to his will. The sculpture is both a referal to the art of the Russian constructivists, as well as that of the Flemish Primitives.

The work is part of Van Lieshout’s New Tribal Labyrinth. In this series AVL’s recurring themes of examining the structures of power and revolution are linked to the end of the worlds’ resources. Nose Cart acts as a monument for a new world order, a society inhabited by imaginary tribes, where rituals will be reinstated and re-evaluated.

In his new body of work CryptoFuturism, Joep van Lieshout revisits the Italian Futurists a century later to look at resonances between emerging Fascist tendencies today, using his art to reveal the interplay between Utopia and destruction. Van Lieshout embraces emerging technologies from genetic manipulation to robotics and big data to draw parallels between the societal threats faced in the early 20th century and the perhaps graver circumstances we face today. Starting his research by building huge machines in order to destroy or recycle all possible materials, Joep van Lieshout deconstructs notions of sustainability with techno modernist speed, playing a dangerous game with nostalgia for bygone political theorems.

The Crypto Helmets refer to new rituals by groups of individuals that want to go back to the origin of the industrial revolution and food production. Their final goals is to become one with the machine.

In his new body of work CryptoFuturism Joep van Lieshout revisits the Italian Futurists a century later to look at resonances between emerging Fascist tendencies today, using his art to reveal the interplay between Utopia and destruction. Van Lieshout embraces emerging technologies from genetic manipulation to robotics and big data to draw parallels between the societal threats faced in the early 20th century and the perhaps graver circumstances we face today. Starting his research by building huge machines in order to destroy or recycle all possible materials, Joep van Lieshout deconstructs notions of sustainability with techno modernist speed, playing a dangerous game with nostalgia for bygone political theorems.

As part of the CryptoFuturism project, these helmets refer to new technologies and the way humans will interact with these currently unpredictable developments.

In his new body of work CryptoFuturism Joep van Lieshout revisits the Italian Futurists a century later to look at resonances between emerging Fascist tendencies today, using his art to reveal the interplay between Utopia and destruction. Van Lieshout embraces emerging technologies from genetic manipulation to robotics and big data to draw parallels between the societal threats faced in the early 20th century and the perhaps graver circumstances we face today. Starting his research by building huge machines in order to destroy or recycle all possible materials, Joep van Lieshout deconstructs notions of sustainability with techno modernist speed, playing a dangerous game with nostalgia for bygone political theorems.

As part of the CryptoFuturism project, these helmets refer to new technologies and the way humans will interact with these currently unpredictable developments.

Mixed media

In his new body of work CryptoFuturism, Joep van Lieshout revisits the Italian Futurists a century later to look at resonances between emerging Fascist tendencies today, using his art to reveal the interplay between Utopia and destruction. Van Lieshout embraces emerging technologies from genetic manipulation to robotics and big data to draw parallels between the societal threats faced in the early 20th century and the perhaps graver circumstances we face today. Starting his research by building huge machines in order to destroy or recycle all possible materials, Joep van Lieshout deconstructs notions of sustainability with techno modernist speed, playing a dangerous game with nostalgia for bygone political theorems.

The Crypto Helmets refer to new rituals by groups of individuals that want to go back to the origin of the industrial revolution and food production. Their final goals is to become one with the machine.

Nuclear Crypto Helmet (2016) was part of the following exhibition(s):
‘Der Hausfreund’, Galerie Krinzinger, Vienna (AT), 2016

For enquiries: please contact Atelier Van Lieshout via info@ateliervanlieshout.com

In his new body of work CryptoFuturism, Joep van Lieshout revisits the Italian Futurists a century later to look at resonances between emerging Fascist tendencies today, using his art to reveal the interplay between Utopia and destruction. Van Lieshout embraces emerging technologies from genetic manipulation to robotics and big data to draw parallels between the societal threats faced in the early 20th century and the perhaps graver circumstances we face today. Starting his research by building huge machines in order to destroy or recycle all possible materials, Joep van Lieshout deconstructs notions of sustainability with techno modernist speed, playing a dangerous game with nostalgia for bygone political theorems.

Over the past three years, Atelier Van Lieshout has been working on a series of kinetic sculpture machines. Works include Si Gale Gale, a Man turned Machine, and The Maniac, a dynamic Monument for Machines.

With these mechanical works, Van Lieshout draws a parallel with the historic Kinetic Art movement, but also gives us a glimpse of possible world to come, a future where robots will be omnipresent. Demographic decline could create a necessity for robotica, for machines to take over the workload. When the population recovers, people can live like Homo Ludens, who only need to preoccupy themselves with the essence of life. This could lead to a utopian society where people can live life to the fullest but may also lead to violence and extremism.

In his new body of work CryptoFuturism, Joep van Lieshout revisits the Italian Futurists a century later to look at resonances between emerging Fascist tendencies today, using his art to reveal the interplay between Utopia and destruction. Van Lieshout embraces emerging technologies from genetic manipulation to robotics and big data to draw parallels between the societal threats faced in the early 20th century and the perhaps graver circumstances we face today. Starting his research by building huge machines in order to destroy or recycle all possible materials, Joep van Lieshout deconstructs notions of sustainability with techno modernist speed, playing a dangerous game with nostalgia for bygone political theorems.

The foyer at the heart of the Gemeentemusem Den Haag features a new artwork by Atelier van Lieshout. The eight-metre-high sculpture is designed to serve as a visitor information desk and is a humorous nod to the ‘rivalry’ between H.P. Berlage, architect of the Gemeentemuseum, and his Belgian contemporary and confrere Henry Van de Velde. Van de Velde was a founder of art nouveau, trailblazer for the later Bauhaus, and famous in the Netherlands primarily as the architect of the Kröller-Müller Museum.

In terms of artistic ideas, Berlage and Van de Velde had much in common: both sought to eliminate the distinction between art and design and to approach architecture as a Gesamtkunstwerk (total art work). At the same time, they were rivals who competed for major contracts – especially for museum buildings. Berlage also produced a design for the Kröller-Müller Museum (which was rejected), and with Henry, the Statistocrat Van de Velde has now placed his stamp on the Gemeentemuseum.

Gemeentemuseum Den Haag

Fiberglass

This tree of life bears body-shaped fruit in various stages of ripeness. This is a celebration of life or perhaps these are the ‘strange fruit’ jazz singer Billie Holiday referred to in her 1938 song: the victims of lynch mobs. Birth and death grow on the same tree.

Tree of Life (2016) was part of the following exhibition(s):
‘Let’s Get Physical’, Atelier Van Lieshout, Rotterdam (NL), 2020
‘SlaveCity’, De Pont, Tilburg (NL), 2016

Fiberglass, glass

Y Caban is a modern-day interpretation of the quarrymen’s Caban. It’s a hut that has different uses: to perform, to argue, to discuss and to dream.

Commission
Location: the city of Bagor Wales.

Molecules and atoms are sculptor Joep van Lieshout’s most recent obsession. They hold his imagination because he is currently researching the origin of matter, material and form. In addition, he is working on the development of a nuclear power plant, as part of a vision on a new, ecological, high-tech society. This has inspired him to create a series of artworks which take the structure of molecules as a source of inspiration. The works, however, area literal reference, but offer a sculptural interpretation, an artistic and contemporary version of the abstracted scientific structure.

The molecule represents Glucose (C6H12O6), the primary source of energy for human life.  Glucose is a key element for human life. Without glucose, nothing would function: neither the brain, intelligence, thought, muscles, movement or sports. Without energy, not only our lives but also our machines and our cities would come to a standstill – with great, empty, eternal stillness as the result. Energy is the vital force which drives our world, brings it its color, its joy, its vibrancy, its life. It is literally ‘the beginning of everything’.

Molecules and atoms are sculptor Joep van Lieshout’s most recent obsession. They hold his imagination because he is currently researching the origin of matter, material and form. In addition, he is working on the development of a nuclear power plant, as part of a vision on a new, ecological, high-tech society. This has inspired him to create a series of artworks which take the structure of molecules as a source of inspiration. The works, however, area literal reference, but offer a sculptural interpretation, an artistic and contemporary version of the abstracted scientific structure.

The molecule represents Glucose (C6H12O6), the primary source of energy for human life.  Glucose is a key element for human life. Without glucose, nothing would function: neither the brain, intelligence, thought, muscles, movement or sports. Without energy, not only our lives but also our machines and our cities would come to a standstill – with great, empty, eternal stillness as the result. Energy is the vital force which drives our world, brings it its color, its joy, its vibrancy, its life. It is literally ‘the beginning of everything’.