Joep van Lieshout
Born in 1963, artist Joep van Lieshout's work is closely intertwined with the practice of the interdisciplinary collective "Atelier von Lieshout" (AVL). Conceptually intertwined, Joep van Lieshout's personal artistic practice is characterized more by sculptures and drawings, while AVL combines intersections of art, design and architecture in alternative, lifelike or utopian lifestyles. This merging of fine and applied art often results in cross-space, site-specific installations, new product designs, or happenings with the goal of "erasing the boundaries between art and life." Since 1995, AVL has developed utopian social models and community concepts, new designs for alternative living spaces, capsule-like bunks, mobile houses, and nomadic furniture designs. Joep van Lieshout lives and works in Rotterdam.
In 2013, he collaborated with Porzellan Manufaktur Nymphenburg to create Collision, a sculptural series in matt black biscuit porcelain, limited to ten editions and three artist’s proofs. The multi-part centrepiece consists of four choreographed groups of human figures whose expressive gestures evoke struggle, flight, resistance and solidarity. Van Lieshout describes them as the “heroes of the great collision”, symbols of social upheaval in which established values and power structures are called into question. At the same time, Collision draws on Nymphenburg’s historic tradition of figurative centrepieces and table decorations inspired by hunting scenes, translating it into a contemporary visual language shaped by social and political concerns.
