Auke de Vries, 'Untitled', 1994

Auke de Vries, Untitled, 1994
Center The Hague: Spui - Grote Marktstraat - Kalvermarkt

It is often said that the internationally renowned sculptor Auke de Vries (1937) originally trained as a graphic designer and draftsman, drawing a connection to his graphically styled sculptures. However, before he began sculpting in the late 1970s, De Vries painted for ten years. Although he creates sketches that later become sculptures, his delicate works have more to do with nature than with art. Furthermore, not all of his sculptures are linear; some have quite a bit of mass.

For example, in 1986, De Vries created an elongated sculpture defying natural laws at the NS station Den Haag Hollands Spoor. On an illogically narrow strip between the former PTT Post dispatch center and the tracks, strips and plates of metal are curled, cut, and nearly falling but still in balance. Heavy forms appear feather-light. De Vries demonstrates that flat surfaces can be quite plastic.

De Vries' pedestal sculpture also showcases a kind of acrobatics with line and mass. The sculpture is composed of thin black rods resembling drawn charcoal lines. The dented aluminum shape resembles a crumpled chip bag without print. It captures light, while the wooden ball, subtly attached to one of the rods, seems to defy gravity. The pedestal, which De Vries incorporates into the sculpture, provides the necessary mass.

Although all of De Vries' sculptures are abstract, they contain recognizable forms, such as the ball and the arrow in his pedestal sculpture. His focus is not on the meaning but on the aesthetic quality of these forms and the tension they create in conjunction with the abstract figures. His art is a refined, intuitive play in space.