Atelier Van Lieshout

Mixed media

Fasces consist of bundles of rods bound by a red leather strap, sometimes including an axe with its blade sticking out. As a symbol, the fasces originated in Etruscan civilisation and was passed on to ancient Rome where it represented a magistrate’s power and jurisdiction. The rods symbolised the ‘power to punish’, the axe stood for the ‘power over life and death’ and the strap signified the ‘power to arrest’.

The fasces were later adopted by numerous governments and authorities. In 1792, the First French Republic used the fasces as a symbol for its political entity. A century later the bound rods and axe were included in the US Senate seal. In the early 20th century, the fasces became identified with Benito Mussolini’s authoritarian regime in Italy. The term ‘fascism’ is derived from this word.

Fasces are all about strength in unity. A single rod may be brittle and weak, but bound together in an orderly manner they become unbreakable. Atelier Van Lieshout’s versions of the fasces, however, lack strength and order. The rods used are of inferior quality and the thing is sloppily assembled. The organising system is obviously a failure, resulting in laughable weakness and a pompous display of impotence. These fasces are a parody of the symbol that represents a system geared towards domination, but historically bound for implosion because of inconsistency, irrationality and infighting.

Fasces (2021) was part of the following exhibition(s):
EHBO, Galerie Ron Mandos, Amsterdam (NL)

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

Bronze

In western art, monkeys and apes are often depicted as naughty, shameless animals with no self-control and overactive libidos. They are the devil’s henchmen or even the latter’s incarnations. In 17th-century painting, chained monkeys symbolised mankind imprisoned by lust.
However, in Joep van Lieshout’s view, apes represent raw energy and a zest for life. They tried to shackle the old alpha male and oust him from his place, but he broke free from expectations, obligations and the churning wheels of time in order to rule supreme. Even though he is subject to fate and has to accept any unlucky roll of the dice, he is still on top of his game and unwilling to give up without a fight.

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

Fiberglass

The Madonna and child Michelangelo carved from marble in 1505 is a melancholic sculpture. Maria’s sad look betrays her knowledge of her child’s future and the toddler Christ hangs at her knee as if grasping at the last scraps of childhood. Atelier Van Lieshout’s Green Madonna exudes the opposite atmosphere to Michelangelo’s masterpiece. The child has combatively raised itself up and the mother is determined to protect her progeny – so much so in fact, that she has merged with her weapon that calls to mind Soviet workers’ tools. Their camouflage makes them unseen and changes their nudity into a sort of body painted armour. Both stare like militant proletarians in old Soviet posters confidently in the same direction, into a future situated somewhere beyond the viewer.

Green Madonna (2021) was part of the following exhibition(s):
EHBO, Galerie Ron Mandos, Amsterdam (NL)

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

Mixed media

An incubator is a world unto itself. The child in the cocoon is monitored and kept alive by machines that protect the baby from possibly malevolent outside influences. An incubator locks a child up, yet this prison is also a sign of love.

Atelier Van Lieshout’s Incubator is an improvised one. The materials used such as sewer pipe and switches have been randomly sourced and the device has also been carelessly slapped together. However, this does not detract from the good intentions with which the device was designed and built.
This incubator is related to the sensory deprivation chambers Joep van Lieshout built from 2007 onwards. The artist would prefer to create a life-size incubator for himself: a safe haven in a hostile world. In an incubator, all life’s functions can be left to the protective shell and the ‘child in the incubator’ can be peacefully left to their own mind.

Incubator (2021) was part of the following exhibition(s):
EHBO, Galerie Ron Mandos, Amsterdam (NL)

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

Mixed media

The drama of all-consuming love: you can’t live with or without one another. The other’s absence makes you vulnerable to poisonous influences from the outside world. These are kept at bay when you are linked to your other half, yet this locks you into a bubble with a limited quantity of oxygen. The breath of life you gift each other keeps getting less beneficial and, over time, even becomes deadly.

Friends is one of the first sculptures from the Sacrifice series. The latter depicts the gamut of human characteristics and emotions during crises. Cruelty and revenge go hand in hand with self-sacrifice, illumination and deep love. Life revealing itself as a surrealist succession of contradictions.

The man and woman in Friends are still surviving together. That their closed system is untenable and just as fatal as the danger their hazmat suits protect them from, is irrelevant to them.

Friends (2021) was part of the following exhibition(s):
EHBO, Galerie Ron Mandos, Amsterdam (NL)

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

Mixed media

This anaesthesia device is contained in a metal frame that makes the unit so strong and indestructible that you could even drop it from a plane into a war zone. Once on the ground, the control valves can be opened to administer the correct proportion of oxygen, laughing gas, ether and halothane – a drug on the World Health Organization’s list of essential drugs. This analog system functioned in hospitals until the introduction of digital equipment and demanded a great deal of knowledge and skill from the anaesthesiologist.

Besides aiding surgery, the Strong Anaesthetic Apparatus is also a sculptural composition in which the volumes have been carefully attuned for the perfect harmony and beauty. The baby blue frame is both innocent and antiseptic: a suitable colour for a device that provides numbing, relief and – ultimately – unconsciousness.

Strong Anaesthetic Apparatus (2021) was part of the following exhibition(s):
EHBO, Galerie Ron Mandos, Amsterdam (NL)

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

Mixed media

This Tandtechnisch laboratorium [dental lab] is a world away from the high-tech workshops that currently turn out tailor-made dentures – some of which even use 3D printers. Here making dentures is still a craft. It is reminiscent of the very first false teeth to be found, that date back some 2,500 years, these were discovered in Mexico and were made by mounting wolf teeth onto human jaws. Recycled teeth and molars are combined into a utilitarian sculpture that not only determines whether or not someone can eat, but also which smile they have to project at the world.

The yellow bin adjacent to the workbench is from Atelier Van Lieshout’s 1990’s Soft Edge series. This recycling, comparable to that of the human ivories, illustrates Joep van Lieshout’s rejection of the sacredness attributed to art. The work is not unassailable and definitely not too good to continue as a footnote to another work.

Tandtechnisch Laboratorium (2021) was part of the following exhibition(s):
EHBO, Galerie Ron Mandos, Amsterdam (NL)

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

Mixed media

The most famous oracles are those in Greek mythology with the Oracle at Delphi at the pinnacle of fame. People journeyed from all over to ask the gods for advice which they were provided courtesy of a priest who served as a conduit.

Atelier Van Lieshout’s Oracle can be rolled to the person asking for advice on casters: a mobile service for modern consumers. The stylised flower pattern on the sculpture’s base, which is vaguely reminiscent of art nouveau decorations, provides the suggestion of connection between nature and the higher powers hidden within. However, it is a poor disguise for a dummy that can be manipulated to your heart’s content. Essential to this is that the oracle clearly doesn’t speak from the mouth, but from a hole in the belly. If the message it provides proves incorrect then this can always be put down to inferior interpretation.

Oracle (2021) was part of the following exhibition(s):
EHBO, Galerie Ron Mandos, Amsterdam (NL)

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

Bronze

During the Covid-19 pandemic Joep van Lieshout went on a sculpting frenzy. Much of the output draws on biblical themes, yet has a deeply humanitarian streak, dealing with the essence of life. The Caretakers is about respect for the dead and the last moment of intimacy before burial. These emotions supersede the individuality of the figurines who remain abstract. Moreover, they are literally framed by a cube-like structure which represents reason, social convention and organisational systems. This framework may feel like a cage or even a straightjacket, but its clear boundaries prevent grief, anger and frustration from taking over.

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

Composite

Everything that everyone does in their own life is the voyage: We come from somewhere, we are here now and we go elsewhere.

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

Fiberglass, steel

Since the beginning of modern society, rats have played a role in culture and science. The animals often revoke a sense of fear and horror. Atelier Van Lieshout however would like to stress the positive sides of the rat. They are considered highly intelligent, are adaptive if the environment changes, agile and sensitive, and very able to take care of themselves. Considering these positive notions, one could easily see the human side of the animal. The rat could be envisioned as the animal of the future; an animal that will always be here; an animal that we should look upon as a friend instead of a foe. Just like the artist himself.

Rat (2019) was part of the following exhibition(s):
Tij, Tijd, Tijdelijkheid,IJsselbiënnale, (NL)

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

Fiberglass

Atelier Van Lieshout’s sculptures always start with the sketches Joep van Lieshout makes hundreds of every month. Over the past six years, a rhino increasingly kept cropping up. Van Lieshout saw himself in it. He also only has two modes: rest and contemplation or relentless forward motion.

The sculpture he subsequently created of a giant rhino with a labyrinthine structure drilled into it ended up in his studio due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the postponement of KadS. Van Lieshout used the lockdown to turn out dozens of sculptures at high speed, often with Christian themes. The descents from the cross and the last supper depict and comment on the values of human existence that were so constrained by the virus.

Surrounded by religious iconography Van Lieshout suddenly realised: that rhino is the place for Moses, the prophet who led the Jews to the promised land and received God’s ten commandments on Mount Sinai. He fitted the sculpture with a heavy, armoured door that locks from the inside so you can hide in the belly of the beast. Once rejuvenated, you can come storming out with your own version of the stone tablets.

However, the sculpture isn’t just for solo use. It provides room for four or five people. Metal rings on the wall suggest hedonistic rituals could take place. The sculpture’s bronze appearance reinforces the impression of it being an idol. Typical for Atelier Van Lieshout’s tendency to be ambiguous, the rhino is an armoured warrior and a sacrificial animal in one. An incubator for high ideals and a breeding ground for the most base instincts.

Mozes (2020) was part of the following exhibition(s):
Kunst aan de Schinkel, Soledad Senlle Art Foundation, Amsterdam (NL)

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

Mixed media

The Dutch aren’t big on flying the flag. Some feel the national tricolour has been claimed by the right-wing, for others it brings to mind a colonial past that doesn’t inspire pride. Hence the burn marks on the flag behind Telephone Guy, a rag unceremoniously tied to an undersized flagpole. He is also hauling an outdated telephone in a pretty but useless velvet sleeve and wearing a gasmask that won’t improve the quality of his communications. His shamanistic outfit underlines the symbolic, irrational nature of all messaging; closer to a spirit whisperer than a modern day logistics officer. Telephone Guy is a giant on clay feet, bogged down in the national identity debate.

Telephone Guy (2021) was part of the following exhibition(s):
Fake Me Hard, AVL Mundo, Rotterdam (NL)

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

Bronze

The eagle, owl and vulture are three of the many birds that have symbolic meaning as heraldic charges, but their degree of popularity varies greatly. The eagle is by far the most frequently employed heraldic bird. It was already used by the Holy Roman Empire and now graces the US’s Great Seal, the Albanian flag and the coat of arms of countries varying from Panama to Namibia. The owl was the primary symbol of Athens, its image the eyecatcher on the Greek drachma as well as part of the heraldry of aristocratic families. The vulture is the least appealing of the three. The scavenger plays a minor role in Iceland’s coat of arms and can be seen in Mali’s national seal, although some people argue the bird is a dove in flight.

The eagle symbolises strength while the owl stands for wisdom. The vulture’s opportunism is a considerably less attractive trait, but it is complementary to the other two. Together, the three birds are like the trio of monkeys from Japan: see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. They don’t represent the morality of an ideal state, but reflect the reality of politics where the three forces interact.

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

This combination of a crutch, a wooden leg and training wheels is too much of a good thing. Individually these prosthetics support the physically challenged, but merged they prove to be wholly ineffective, an obstacle rather than an aid. Prosthetic is a perverse mutation of good intentions and the rationalist drive to always keep improving. It wouldn’t be out of place in a surrealist painting as a symbol of impotence. The sculpture is part of the Atelier Van Lieshout’s series Sacrifice, which presents war and destruction as a maelstrom of human essence, chaos, creativity providing the option of rebirth: new, yet perhaps not so improved.

Prosthetic (2021) was part of the following exhibition(s):
Fake Me Hard, AVL Mundo, Rotterdam (NL)

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

Mixed media

One of Joep van Lieshout’s earliest sculptures, conceived in 1983, is an operating table that doubles as a chopping block with drains to recycle body fluids and concealed stilettos to cut the patient’s vertebra if necessary. Life saving easily turns into torture and execution. Our faith in the agents of rational science is questioned, as is the value of human life itself. A couple of Ebola outbreaks, the HIV crisis and a Covid-19 pandemic later, and Atelier Van Lieshout’s Salvation spells out a not so different future. Doctors are crusaders, priests and shamans all rolled into one: part healer, part executioner. Nurses provide care and sexually charged consolation.

Salvation (2020) was part of the following exhibition(s):
Fake Me Hard, AVL Mundo, Rotterdam (NL)

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

Bronze

During the Covid-19 pandemic Joep van Lieshout went on a sculpting frenzy. Much of the output draws on biblical themes, yet has a deeply humanitarian streak, dealing with the essence of life. Caretakers is about respect for the dead and the last moment of intimacy before burial. These emotions supersede the individuality of the figurines who remain abstract. Moreover, they are literally framed by a cube-like structure which represents reason, social convention and organisational systems. This framework may feel like a cage or even a straightjacket, but its clear boundaries prevent grief, anger and frustration from taking over.

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

Mixed media

This figure brings to mind pictures of soldiers dying in trenches or concentration camp prisoners caught on barbed wire fences. In their dying moments they all mimic Saint Sebastian’s posture as depicted in Christian iconography since the 9th century. Atelier Van Lieshout’s version of the arrow-pierced martyr is not tied to a stake or a tree, but hung from a frame, like a puppet manipulated by rules of human design. However, the structure doesn’t consist of neat beams held together by uniform bolts and screws, but is rather intuitively thrown together. It’s a form of expressionist sculpture, signifying a value system out of whack.

Bas (2021) was part of the following exhibition(s):
Fake Me Hard, AVL Mundo, Rotterdam (NL)

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

Bronze or aluminium

The last supper has been an important artistic subject for two millennia, from the second century catacombs of Rome, via Michelangelo and Da Vinci to Nitsch and Warhol. Its symbolic meaning is universally understood: a goodbye to life and the world as we know it. In AVL’s version every apostle has its own character: lethargically hanging in a corner, sneaking away or hiding under the table. The scene is framed by a cage-like structure that ties it together like a portable shrine, but also implies restriction, either physically or mentally.

Available in Bronze and Aluminium.

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

Fiberglass

The last supper has been an important artistic subject for two millennia, from the second century catacombs of Rome, via Michelangelo and Da Vinci to Nitsch and Warhol. Its symbolic meaning is universally understood: a goodbye to life and the world as we know it. In AVL’s version every apostle has its own character: lethargically hanging in a corner, sneaking away or hiding under the table. The scene is framed by a cage-like structure that ties it together like a portable shrine, but also implies restriction, either physically or mentally.

Last Supper (2020) was part of the following exhibition(s):
RE_NATURE, Future of Work, ‘s-Hertogenbosch (NL)

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

Steel, glass and concrete

A computer-controlled hourglass turns over fast, running empty in mere seconds. Time is gone before you had a chance to blink twice. This makes this hourglass useless to attach any sense of time calculation to. Time slips through our fingers like sand and valuable minutes are lost.

With this work Atelier Van Lieshout deconstructs time, redefines our idea and understanding of time and takes away the certainty of time moving forward.

Down the Drain Clock (2018) was part of the following exhibition(s):
World Expo 2020, The Netherlands Pavilion, Dubai (UAE)

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

Aluminium, steel

Seven Digit Clock questions our concept of time and subsequently destroys our trust in this established system. Nothing is certain, time is running back and forward, fast and slow or is the clock really trying to say something ..?

A program especially made for Atelier Van Lieshout controls the panels of the clock. Seconds sometimes last for years, years last for minutes and every now and then words appear instead of a series of numbers. The figures of Seven Digit Clock have deliberately been given an audible rhythm. The work rattles and clicks and but the moments of silence say just as much.

Seven Digit Clock (2018) was part of the following exhibition(s):
World Expo 2020, The Netherlands Pavilion, Dubai (UAE)

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

Steel, wood

He was nearly injured by an erupting volcano, dragged Joaquin Phoenix from a burning car wreck, was shot in the abdomen by a crazed fan and suffered several bouts of malaria. Werner Herzog knows the world can be a dangerous place, especially for a filmmaker who seeks to transform reality so viewers can witness ‘the ecstatic truth’, as he calls it. But Herzog doesn’t tread gently. He bulldozers on.

AVL’s latest creation is fittingly named after the German director of such modern classics as Fitzcarraldo and Grizzly Man. This vehicle can handle any terrain and can operate under the most strenuous circumstances. It’s a steel-plated monster. Its parapet is outfitted with artillery embrasures and topped with a rotating gun turret.

Werner resembles the narco tanks used by Mexican drug cartels or the vehicles terrorist organizations such as ISIS use; made from modified trucks or SUVs equipped with armour and guns, the epitome of DIY tactical security.

Werner is not intended for urban warfare though. It’s designed to bring cinema to the cultural outback. AVL taps into cinema’s history as a propaganda tool, bringing the contemporary media war to the streets and underlining cinema’s fighting spirit. Films can be displayed on screens both inside and outside the vehicle. The mobile cinema can easily be extended with a tent-like structure to create an outdoor screening venue, not unlike a paramilitary encampment.

But Werner can also be used by guerrilla filmmakers who want to get back to basics. The vehicle is outfitted with a kitchen, bathroom, fireplace and other amenities necessary for self-sufficiency. Hitched to the back is a pyrolyser that transforms plastics into diesel to fuel the combustion engine powering the machine. As long as there’s waste, there will be the power to keep on making films.

Werner (2021) was part of the following exhibition(s):
50th Edition, IFFR, Rotterdam (NL)

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

Fiberglass

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

Mixed Media
150 cm x 75 cm x 312 cm

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

Mixed Media
30 cm x 30 cm x 170cm

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

Composite

Family is society’s bedrock. However, the traditional nuclear family of mum, dad and kids is no longer dominant. In this sculpture, family members have become abstract volumes relating to each other in size and movement. The work both questions and confirms their roles and relations.

Family (2020) was part of the following exhibition(s):
‘Let’s Get Physical’, Atelier Van Lieshout, Rotterdam (NL), 2020

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

Fiberglass

The road to a perfect future is bumpy. It needs guides and guards, who point the way, stand firm for their ideals and keep enemies out. These figures are a cross between Moses and Ronin-like sentries, ready to serve and sacrifice for a goal they’ll never reap the benefits of. Judging by its rusty skin, this particular specimen has been at it for quite a while. The future is far away.

Utopia (2020) was part of the following exhibition(s):
‘Let’s Get Physical’, Atelier Van Lieshout, Rotterdam (NL), 2020

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

Bronze

80 cm x 28 cm x 180 cm

Fight or flight? Who the heroes and the cowards are becomes blatantly clear in a crisis. AVL’s Dokwerker (dock worker) refers to the eponymous monument on the Jonas Daniël Meijerplein in Amsterdam that commemorates the 1941 February Strike. The first large-scale act of Dutch resistance against the German occupying forces.

De Dokwerker (2019) was part of the following exhibition(s):
‘Let’s Get Physical’, Atelier Van Lieshout, Rotterdam (NL), 2020

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

Commission
Location: Westerlo, Belgium

A video of Kill Room (2020) via this link

Mixed Media
131 cm x 56 cm x 145 cm

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

Composite

130 cm x 67 cm x 140 cm

Early prehistoric sculpture was all about fertility – think, for instance, of the Venus of Willendorf with her broad thighs and ample bosom. Butler is her male counterpart who has fallen victim to his own potency. His penis rests on a crutch and serves as a side table for drinks, while he himself has been reduced to a lampshade. Some of his original vigour is still detectable in his rudimentary body shape that was sawn from polystyrene blocks with a chainsaw before being cast in composite.

Bronze, sheep felt

Reclining Figure is an elegant and intimate sculpture of a woman, a portrayal of beauty and female strength. She is a primal mother; warm and sensitive, but strong, being able to easily hold the weight of eight.

For enquiries: please contact Carpenters Workshop Gallery

Fiberglass, steel, wood

This composting machine is a true omnivore. At the top of the spiral staircase sits a compost toilet, where one can relieve oneself while enjoying the view. The lower part consists of urinals, vomit and ejaculation stations. All human waste is collected and recycled. Man feeds the machine and becomes one with it — a recurrent theme in AVL’s work.

Excrementus Megalomanus (2019) was part of the following exhibition(s):
‘Let’s Get Physical’, Atelier Van Lieshout, Rotterdam (NL), 2020
‘In the Age of Post-Drought’, Transnatural, DDW (NL), 2019
‘Into The Great Wide Open’, Vlieland (NL), 2019

Fiberglass, steel

Voluminous and yet respectful, this distinctive artwork revives the idea of Drei Grazien (Three Graces) to whom we attribute incomparable gracefulness. Appearing both figurative and abstract, the megalithic sculptures—influenced by light and shadow—offer a constantly changing presence. Based upon the ideal number 3 and set at the meeting point of three roads, the sculptures have the appearance of mythical figures ascending from the depths. Primal conceptions of coming to be and passing away come alive along with the reference to the eclogite occurrence in the nearby Hohlfelsen rock. “You might think that these three voluptuous female figures—once hidden below the Austrian soil—have finally found their way to the surface”, says Joep van Lieshout. This also puts time into perspective, interweaving the past, the present and the future world of imagination and visualizing constant change.

Commission
Location: Wies, Austria

Fiberglass, steel, bronze coating

This sculpture represents a glucose molecule (C6H12O6); it shows the source of energy for human existence. This molecule is an essential fuel for our muscles and brain, which stimulate humans to create, discover and move. Nothing would work without glucose. Our lives, our machines, our vehicles and our cities would come to a halt without this fuel. De Onmisbare (The indispensable) is a contemporary artistic interpretation of this chemical structure.

Commission
Location: Station Kampen, The Netherlands