Atelier Van Lieshout

Fiberglass
1000 x 800 x 600 cm

For the new School of Architecture in Nantes Atelier Van Lieshout has made l’Absence. As a sculpture, l’Absence fits into the architectural constraints of the site. The result is a moving and living mass, with multiple protuberances, incarnation of an instinctive gesture, without any delimitation or any function. A living space where we wish discussions will happen. L’Absence is in turn a bar, a sculpture, a comment on today’s architecture that will, without a doubt, fuel students’ imagination.

Location: School of Architecture, Nantes (FR)

Fiberglass
1200 x 2100 x 67 cm

Designed for the Indianapolis Museum of Art, Funky Bones is a group of 20 benches with drawings of large bones that will together form the shape of an enormous, stylized human skeleton.The work grows out of ideas about native heritage and cultural development, with bones iconically referring to artifacts and remains from previous occupants. Joep encountered visitors sitting on rocks and other natural perches on his visit to Indianapolis and therefore wanted to create benches as sites for resting in 100 Acres Art and Nature Park at the Indianapolis Museum of Art.

Location: Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis (USA)

Fiberglass
1300 x 1000 x 275 cm

For the Zuiderzeemuseum in Enkhuizen Atelier Van Lieshout made Huize Organus. This multi-functional unit is placed on a small dyke in the museumpark. The unit consists of several elements of which the large part houses the complete digestive system from tongue to rectum. The largest part of this ‘microworld’ is blown up to massive proportion so that people can enter. Grown out of this sculpture is the clip-on compost toilet. On the other side the female reproductive organs are attached. In this Wombhouse you will find a small bedroom, where one can sleep in the most save place one can imagine on earth, the womb.

Fiberglass
450 x 450 x 850 cm

This sculpture commissioned by Sculpture International Rotterdam depicts eighteen stacked oil drums, which appear to descend from the sky like a waterfall. Combined with a syrupy mass, shapes of a score of human figures. Anonymous beings in dramatic poses climb up the robust contours of oil drums with their limp and formless figures. Melted together as a single whole to form a monumental column. The sculpture evokes associations with the current economic crisis, the exhaustion of raw materials and the bankruptcy of the consumer society.

Location: Churchillplein, Rotterdam (NL)

Fiberglass
1300 x 1000 x 260 cm

Nature is all about the ‘survival of the fittest’, as Charles Darwin concluded in the 19th century. A century later fascist regimes applied his theory of evolution to society and invented social Darwinism. Only the most beautiful and smartest people would be allowed to breed in order to create a race of supermen — a perverse exaggeration of nature. AVL’s Darwin is a superior sperm cell squashing the bodies of the losers. It’s also a cocoon for living and reproducing in.

Darwin (2008) was part of the following exhibition(s):
‘VOORLOPERS’, Park, Paleis Soestdijk (NL), 2022
‘Imagine’, ArtZuid, Amsterdam (NL), 2021
‘Let’s Get Physical’, Atelier Van Lieshout, Rotterdam (NL), 2020 – 2021
‘Infernopolis’, Submarinewharf, Rotterdam (NL), 2010

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

Fiberglass

The two bus stops Alpha & Omega (2009) in the shape of an egg and a skull are commissioned by Gemeente Dordrecht and placed at the beginning and end of the scholars bus route if not only symbolizing the beginning and end of life but also the process of learning and the scholars’ career.

Commission
Location: Dordrecht, The Netherlands

Fiberglass
1000 x 1000 x 250 cm

CasAnus premiered at Messe Platz Basel in 2007 and was voted in the top 10 quirkiest hotels in the world by CNN this year. A night in the “organ hotel” costs 120 euro (at Verbeke Foundation, Belgium).

Location: Verbeke Foundation, Belgium.

Fiberglass, wood
600 x 250 x 450 cm

A healthy mind in a healthy body. The neck of this giant skull houses a bath and its cranium a sauna. The eyes emit steam when it is in use. Wellness Skull is a monument to the complexity and beauty of the human body, including the parts that usually remain covered. The sculpture also questions our contemporary obsession with youthfulness, self-experiences and indulgence, as wellness has become a new religion.

Wellness Skull (2007) was part of the following exhibition(s):
‘De Verleiding’, Bosch Parade, ‘s Hertogenbosch (NL), 2022
‘Let’s Get Physical’, Atelier Van Lieshout, Rotterdam (NL), 2020 – 2021

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

Fiberglass
250 x 210 x 237 cm

The Mall, situated in SlaveCity’s public area is a giant biomorphic baroque shopping center. With 26 floors this humongous building is the world’s largest boundless consumer paradise, opened 24/7. The Mall houses countless shops that are irrationally chosen by Joep, consisting of numerous luxury good stores, with upstairs a recreational area including brothels, bars, night clubs, casinos, and a spa. Other floors house fashion stores, art galleries, design and furniture stores as well as convenience services. Downstairs you will find an arena for entertainment fights with supermarkets and quality organic food suppliers. Furthermore a health department with pharmacies and dental- and medical care as well as a hair- and beauty salon, a cosmetic surgery parlor.   The Mall: the shopping city, just to kill time.

Fiberglass
950 x 600 x 300 cm

A meeting point for elderly people: beautiful, cruel and sensual, with a nice interior space. Both art and architecture, BikiniBar represents a building as a sculpture and a sculpture as a building. There is a place to rest inside, where people can withdraw from the busy beach life or bad weather. BikiniBar is the only female body you can enter without permission.

BikiniBar (2006) was part of the following exhibition(s):
‘Vrijstaat’, Kasteel Keukenhof, Lisse (NL), 2014
‘Infernopolis’, Submarinewharf, Rotterdam (NL), 2010

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

Fiberglass
150 x 150 x 450 cm

Location: Rabobank, Heinenoord (NL)

Fiberglass
140 x 85 x 190 cm

Skull On Stand (2005) was part of the following exhibition(s):
‘SlaveCity’, De Pont, Tilburg (NL), 2016
‘Vrijstaat’, Kasteel Keukenhof, Lisse (NL), 2014

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

Victory was made for a new business park in Nieuw Vennep. An office worker’s utopia, the business park has an idyllic garden with a duck pond and bronze sculptures where employees can linger during lunch hour to be happier and more productive in the afternoon. AVL’s sculpture shows a herd of managers, trying to get to the top of a lamp-post.

Collection city of Nieuw Vennep

Fiberglass
930 x 640 x 280 cm

Big Funnel Man is 10 meters long and rests alongside the A27 highway near Breda, where there are always traffic jams at rush hour. People sitting in their cars, going to and from work every weekday, might feel just like the force-fed man.

A video of Big Funnel Man (2004) via this link

Commission
Location: A27, Breda (NL)

Fiberglass

BarRectum, ArschBar, AssholeBar, BarAnus. With a play on words, as well as function, the large-scale sculpture takes its shape from the human digestive system: starting with the tongue, continuing to the stomach, moving through the small and the large intestines and ending with the anus. Its rendition is anatomically correct, except for the colon which has been enlarged to house a bar. The anus constitutes the emergency exit.

BarRectum (2005) was part of the following exhibition(s):
RAUM der Lusten, RAUM, Utrecht (NL), 2021
‘Let’s Get Physical’, Atelier Van Lieshout, Rotterdam (NL), 2020 – 2021
‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’, Ruhrtriennale, Bochum (DE), 2015
‘Vrijstaat’, Kasteel Keukenhof, Lisse (NL), 2014
‘Infernopolis’, Submarinewharf, Rotterdam (NL), 2010
‘Das Haus’, Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst, Aachen (DE), 2008 – 2009

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

Fiberglass
450 x 245 x 230 cm (1 head)

This sculpture group has three heads, which are hollow and can be used in different ways. The male head Hermann is a typical blue eyed blond, the female Claudia has dark hair and brown eyes. Tom, the third head, is a dark-faced man, standing straight on his neck. The three of them together reflect on the diversity of humanity in a very special way. Keep an open mind, whatever its size.

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

Fiberglass, steel
180 x 180 x 560 cm

This composting machine is part of The Technocrat, a closed system in which human bodies transform food and alcohol into biogas. It turns excess waste into compost for food crops.

Autocomposter (2003) was part of the following exhibition(s):
‘Let’s Get Physical’, Atelier Van Lieshout, Rotterdam (NL), 2020 – 2021
‘ArtZuid’, Amsterdam (NL), 2017
‘Vrijstaat’, Kasteel Keukenhof, Lisse (NL), 2014
‘Infernopolis’, Submarinewharf, Rotterdam (NL), 2010
‘Happy Forest’, Kröller Müller Museum, Otterlo (NL), 2005

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

Fiberglass
Diverse measurements

Commission
Location: Staatliches Vermögens Konstanz (DE)

Mixed media
Diverse measurements

It was in 2001 that Atelier Van Lieshout founded the free state of AVL-Ville. This now notorious venture was a year-long experiment in autonomous living – effectively a self-sufficient commune with its own flag, constitution and currency. Van Lieshout and his disciples designed and built everything in it, from the living units to the machine guns. Part art farm and part spectacular publicity stunt, the project was a pregnant piece of post-millennial escapism. “I think I am a romantic but on the other hand I am very well part of our society”, says Van Lieshout. “I’m no utopian.” AVL-Ville can be seen as idealistic attempts to shape an alternative environment. The project provided a form of art not just to look at, but to be lived in and with. After a successful and tumultuous year, AVL-Ville closed its doors.

Fiberglass
150 x 250 x 380 cm

Location: Rabobank, Uithoorn (NL)

Fiberglass, wood
280 x 720 x 280 cm

Mix and match: the longer side of Floating Sculpture is based on the old-fashioned architecture of a Zaans huisje (houses that are build in the Zaanstreek in the northern part of Holland). The attached blue bulb with windows (transparent eyes) has a large round bed inside.

Collection city of Amsterdam

Fiberglass
350 x 450 x 950 cm

Collection City of Knokke

Fiberglass
330 x 400 x 300 cm

Located at the Triversum in Alkmaar, NL

Fiberglass
230 x 248 x 314 cm

The director of the Centraal Museum wanted a small extension in which to work, sleep and relax. AVL’s solution was to devise a piece that is mounted with large bolts onto the museum’s outside wall. Since AVL tends to build without detailed drawings, the works evolve inside the studio and often change in unforeseeable ways during the construction process. In this case, AVL began with the three basic elements of the extension – a table, a bench and a bed – and then started building the space around them. The final piece on the outside of the museum was not designed; its appearance is the result of the coincidental form of the space needed inside the structure. In collaboration with Klaar van der Lippe.

Collection Centraal Museum, Utrecht.

Fiberglass, wood
725 x 235 x 270 cm

Autocrat is a survival car for living in remote places – far away from civilized society without being deprived of its comforts. There’s a large kitchen and a sleeping area on the inside and another kitchen outside for heavier culinary work, like slaughtering animals. The car was designed and manufactured with the utmost autocracy in mind. Every effort was made to use homemade items and to avoid ready-made products. The hardware, water taps, the locks and the stove were all made from scratch. Autocrat plays a key role in AVL’s evolution, since the vehicle gave rise to the slaughter project. For this project, pigs were slaughtered on a farm according to traditional methods. All the parts were immediately used or preserved by drying, salting, smoking, pickling and other methods. The guide book A Manual (1997) shows more about the slaughter process, specifically how to kill a pig at home.

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

Mixed media

Mobile Home for Kröller-Müller is also fondly known as The Master and Slave Unit. The Master Unit forms the central block; the Slave Units can be clicked or screwed into any one of the five modular holes in the Master Unit. Each Slave Unit has a specific function – bedroom, sanitary space, kitchen, office – and can be easily moved from one hole to another in the Master Unit. With no fixed layout, no foundation, nor final form, The Master and Slave Unit breaks all the rules of traditional architecture. The absence of an overall design makes any rule infinitely expendable and flexible.

Mobile Home for Kröller-Müller (1995) was part of the following exhibition(s):
‘Happy Forest’, Kröller Müller Museum, Otterlo (NL), 2005

Collection: Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo (NL)

Watch a video of Mobile Home for Kröller-Müller via this link.