Atelier Van Lieshout

60 x 40 x 40 is part of the RENEGADE series. With RENEGADE Van Lieshout defines art on his own terms. He challenges the market while giving it what it wants: Van Lieshout, the artist sometimes referred to as designer, will make or take an artwork and turn it into design by just adding a lampshade. With incredible speed Atelier Van Lieshout sculpts a multitude of lamps at a time, thereby quickly accumulating an amount that can spread through the art world like a virus. By adding a lampshade, Van Lieshout presents this new group of works to the public as if it were quickly assembled DIY furniture: large quantities, functional and very accessible.

Boem Boem is part of the RENEGADE series. With RENEGADE Van Lieshout defines art on his own terms. He challenges the market while giving it what it wants: Van Lieshout, the artist sometimes referred to as designer, will make or take an artwork and turn it into design by just adding a lampshade. With incredible speed Atelier Van Lieshout sculpts a multitude of lamps at a time, thereby quickly accumulating an amount that can spread through the art world like a virus. By adding a lampshade, Van Lieshout presents this new group of works to the public as if it were quickly assembled DIY furniture: large quantities, functional and very accessible.

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.

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.

For the near future, Atelier Van Lieshout foresees the emergence of a new tribal world, a primitive society where production takes centre stage. This world will see a return to farming and industry – which currently both have been banished from our society – and a re-establishment of our relationship with materials – which now has been lost. In this new world, ethics will be of little importance. Instead, rituals will be re-valued, and will offer the tribes of the future guidance.

Atelier Van Lieshout is taking an advance on this future, and is creating all necessary equipment for the imaginary tribes, ranging from items of worship and sacrifice to objects for daily use, dwellings and machines. All these artworks together make the huge Gesamtkunstwerk that is New Tribal Labyrinth.

Zig Zag is Van Lieshout’s take on one of the most iconic designs of the 20th century. However, it is executed in a primitive, almost crude way, in plywood, with a rough finish. Zig Zag is linked to a series of chairs by Atelier Van Lieshout, the Prototypes, in which Joep van Lieshout wanted to address the value of crude assembly. For this series, Van Lieshout produced a number of chairs, by hand, directly from the heart, from the head – without making use of a design, a try square or a measurement tape. This approach stands in stark contrast with that of the Rietveld chair. Any similarity is therefore a coincidence.

The Les Brutalist series (2015) is a body of cubist, functional sculptures in a style that Joep van Lieshout refers to as “nouveau brutalism”. With its abstract, geometrical shapes, Les Brutalist hold a clear reference to the utopian modernist movements of the early 20th century. At the same time, however, the installation addresses mans’ most primeval needs. The installation is part of a series by Atelier Van Lieshout, entitled New Tribal Labyrinth, which presents a vision of a future, yet primitive, world inhabited by imaginary tribes where there will be different ethics. This world will see a return to farming and industry, to rituals and rites.

Part of Les Brutalist series (2015): Henri, Kissing Chair, Lounge Area, Chaise Longue, Party Island and Carl.

Les Brutalist series (2015) was part of the following exhibition(s):
– Party Island: ‘Recover/Uncover’, Masa Galeria, Mexico City (MX)
– Various: ‘Primitive Modern’, Almine Rech Gallery, Brussels (BE)

Bambino lamp. Man-woman, (wo)man child, child-child: tender family relations captured in a functional object.

The New Tribal Labyrinth is an ongoing series of work in which recurring themes like the organization of labour, the structures of power and revolution are linked to the end of the worlds´ resources and subsequent self sufficiency. It suggests a new world order, a society inhabited by imaginary tribes. This world will see a return to farming and industry – which currently both have been banished from our society – and a re-establishment of our relationship with materials – which now has been lost. Rituals will be re-valued, and will play in important role in society once more. Thus, objects for farming, industry and rituals are the three main bodies of work of this huge ”Gesamtkunstwerk”.

The fossil series consists of several chairs, chaise longues and sofas. The fossils are reminiscent or recall a primitive shape, half natural, half manmade. They have an outline that vaguely looks like a remnant of a human shape or a body. Like a fossil, these nomadic pieces reveal the identity of the pre-historic host but also resemble and may be seen as rocks or volcanic stone. The fossils are provocative and thoughtful sculptures, which function as sitting places or pieces of furniture, inspiring visitors to nestle and offer an interesting place to gather, read, have a pick-nick, and dream away with the movement of the clouds or the sounds of the city.

Humanoid (2014) invites people to see the human soul in natural and manmade objects. This sculpture is the seed of thought for the larger public installation Humanoids (2019), which is permanently installed in the Collins Canal Park in Miami.

In this series of Atomic lamps, Atelier Van Lieshout evokes the energy created by the atom splitting, paradoxically serving comfort while posing a threat to the planet’s safety. It recomposes the light source with a spatial geography of cylindrical volumes in folded sheet steel cut in different sections. Using this system of mobile pendulums or unwavering volumes, it renews the art of physically spreading light waves, determining the beams’ direction by calculating the segment and the height. It is the director of a spectacular light show in space using magic and the chasing-projector effect, like on stage.

More info via Carpenters Workshop Gallery

The reinvention of the industrial revolution wants to make a link with, but at the same time transcend the utopian, socialist “Arts and Crafts” movement that tried to close the gap between designer, producer and user. In analogy with this movement, which set out to re-establish the value of craftsmanship, AVL will create prototype chairs, by hand.. The chairs spring directly from the heart, from the head, without making use of a design, a try square or a measurement tape. If creating a chair takes more than a single day, its’ design is considered faulty and the prototype will be disposed of.

Greenery, 2012; Brick, 2012; Pudding, 2012; 100% Cyan, 2012; Orange, 2012; Lychee, 2012

The title of this chair is a corruption of the architect Le Corbusier. Joep van Lieshout: ‘Actually, this work is a badly executed Le Corbusier. I stared with the best intentions and with a really clean and neat work in mind, but unfortunately rounded forms kept on creeping in.’

For the 2009 series of furniture, Joep van Lieshout choose the human figure as starting point. Sculptures have been transformed by adding just a few items that changed them into furniture pieces. On one side furniture has been made out of human sculptures (the bodysofa) on the other side prints of people are used for several pieces (fossils, liquor man). The results were not designed but the process dictated the outcome of this furniture. Body Sofa, 2009 Fat Bastard, 2009 Liquor Master, 2009

For the 2009 series of furniture, Joep van Lieshout choose the human figure as starting point. Sculptures have been transformed by adding just a few items that changed them into furniture pieces. On one side furniture has been made out of human sculptures (the bodysofa) on the other side prints of people are used for several pieces (fossils, liquor man). The results were not designed but the process dictated the outcome of this furniture.

Body Sofa, 2009

The fossil series consists of several chairs, chaise longues and sofas. The fossils are reminiscent or recall a primitive shape, half natural, half manmade. They have an outline that vaguely looks like a remnant of a human shape or a body. Like a fossil, these nomadic pieces reveal the identity of the pre-historic host but also resemble and may be seen as rocks or volcanic stone. The fossils are provocative and thoughtful sculptures, which function as sitting places or pieces of furniture, inspiring visitors to nestle and offer an interesting place to gather, read, have a pick-nick, and dream away with the movement of the clouds or the sounds of the city.

A tree converted to a lamp with man like figures – growing from the tree, playing with illumination and the cycle of life, the duality of nature between life and death- sculpture and function.

A recurring theme in the work of Atelier Van Lieshout is the Course of Life. The Course of Life refers to the different steps and stages in human life. The works all focus on the central themes of life and death, beginning and end, alpha and omega – and everything that lies between. In other words, the Course of Life.

Fertility Lamp is an example of AVL’s fascination with the human body. Imbued with the same sense of humour as many of their previous works, the oversized organ conjures up images of tribal fertility gods and male insecurities of size and performance. The proportions and the pose are exaggerated, abstracting the form to a comical level.

This table with crockery was designed for the board room of SlaveCity. The plates on the table are illustrated with scenes from different departments in SlaveCity, such as Human Resources department, Energy production department, Motivation and relaxation department and Organ transplant department.

AVL Workskull is designed for large offices as a secluded place, where employees can work alone undisturbed, have more privacy for phone calls or retreat from the world.

, 2006 For the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen’s Restaurant and KOW architects’ canteen, AVL built tables in the shape of different female torsos. The irregular shape of the tables serves to enhance communication. People will sit closer to each other at the same table – a proximity that tends to ignite a conversation. Bodytables for KOW Architects, 2006, and the restaurant of the Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum, Rotterdam, 2005, in combination with AVL Shaker chairs.

Van Lieshout’s Collection 1989′  is a furniture programme that is showcased in galleries and museums. The items of furniture – shelving units and tables – are hardly designed. They are largely based on standard wood measurements and finished in polyester with equally standard colours. These are not one-offs, but articles that are produced in unlimited series and delivered to order. Moreover Van Lieshout has developed his own system of standard measurements, whereby the pieces of furniture fit together and can be interlinked. Van Lieshout’s furniture looks much like the kind of cheap modern furniture on sale in furniture emporiums, but with one important difference. where that cheap standard furniture is made from laminated chipboard, frequently got up to look like something else – an expensive wood for example, – the crude polyester structure of Van Lieshout’s furniture makes no bones of the fact that it is made of artificial material. No Baudrillard-like simulacra these. They stand for what they are. Moreover, they are stronger and prominently labeled as being ‘washable’. Indeed, that honesty, that absence of regret forms their aesthetic statement. What more could we want than cheap furniture that is also washable? What is wrong with that?  What is the use of meaningless artworks that only get in the way? At least these pieces are useful! Paradoxically it is precisely these questions, addressed within the current debate, which justify a showcasing of Van Lieshout’s works in the art world.

AVL designed the chair on a napkin and then sent the sketch to a Chinese company to produce. The design came with no other information; the language barrier only increased the possibilities for misinterpretation. Most of the designing and detailing were done by the Chinese. Instead of the designer, random and external factors in the production process decided the chair’s final appearance. Far from a slick product fresh from the factory, the chair has irregularities, a non-geometrical shape and a handmade look – features that make for a better product. Produced and distributed by Lensvelt Furniture Company

Such pig toilets are still used in many parts of the world. People defecate in the toilet in the front; pigs happily eat the excrement from the trough at the back. The work was part of a theatre play about the different aspects of faeces and how it is dealt with. If anything, art is like shit: once an artwork comes out of the artist’s body, the work usually cannot be touched or changed anymore.

Produced and distributed by Lensvelt Furniture Company

Contemporary design practice increasingly depends upon high tech. Designs are drawn on the computer and made by means of rapid prototyping. Once the prototype is complete, the object is manufactured far away in another country with cheap labour and then comes back. To counter this distant way of designing, AVL created Bad Furniture in the tradition of the Arts and Crafts movement and Art Nouveau. For Bad Furniture, the designer and the producer are one and the same person. Both the steel and the wood have been handcrafted. Love, tools and materials are combined; shape and passion go hand in hand.