1. Home
  2. Kunstenaars

Chris Ruijs-Nelck

sociaal-maatschappelijk , schilderen , riso-print , Publicatie , performance , natuur , Lichaam , LHBTIQ+ , keramiek , installatie , Gender

Mijn gezicht is als een open boek, dat is me mijn hele leven lang verteld. Mijn emoties liggen aan de oppervlakte en mijn gezichtsuitdrukking is sprekend.
Ik frons zonder het te merken en glimlach zonder het te weten.
Mijn praktijk werkt op dezelfde manier. In mijn kunst ben ik open en direct. Mijn geheimen, schaamte, verlangens en emoties liggen voor iedereen zichtbaar, als ik daarvoor kies. Ik noem dit radicale openheid. Radicale openheid is voor mij een vorm van activisme.
Tijdens het schilderen voelt het vaak alsof ik bruggen bouw tussen mijzelf en de toeschouwer. Mijn schilderijen geven mij de mogelijkheid om vrede te sluiten met het delen van persoonlijke en intieme gevoelens. Ze zijn harig en kwetsbaar. Krachtig en fragiel

Goblin Feast: Snack de la Snack
Goblin Feast: Snack de la Snack - As part of Crème de la Crème, Worm’s Art Rotterdam program, Snack de la Snack unfolded as a durational performance by Chris Nelck and Carla Menas. For the evening, Goblin Feast prepared an array of creams that were both presented and eaten. Drawing on medieval humorism and the clinical aesthetics of gentrified coffee spaces emerging across Rotterdam, the work manifested as an installation filled with subtle tension: felt simultaneously in the atmosphere and on the tongue. About Goblin Feast: Goblin Feast – Carla Menas (CY), Chris Nelck (NL), Paul Smullenberg (NL) and Jip Moeken (NL) – is a celebration of odd, mythical foods inspired by a folklore creature: the goblin. Little, mischievous outcasts. Goblins supposedly live in grottoes, but attach themselves to households, where they bang upon pots and pans, snatch nightclothes off the bodies of sleeping people, move furniture at night, and flee after rattling on walls and doors. Inspired by these unruly habits, we reimagine how goblins might celebrate, through food, fantasy, and ritual. We find freedom in the vague and the dirty and let our fantasy run wild on foods resulting in a 1970’s inspired dinner party. We feast like they would after a satisfying night of taunting humans. With food comes the ritual of serving. How do you bring your pudding to the table? Do you pray? Do you kiss every aunt on the cheek at a Dutch birthday party? We invite you to feast, perform, and misbehave, just as the goblins would want. Join us at the edge of the grotto, where the clatter of cutlery meets the cackle of goblins.
Spookstad Duivennest
Spookstad Duivennest - is an ongoing project, which started during my residency at Extrapool, Destillaat #26. It is my way of dealing with my current housing insecurity and the inability to nestle. Everything goes fast, faster and fastest in this big city, nothing feels permanent anymore. How does one make a home, if you are not sure of how long you can stay? This is where I feel a deep connection with pigeons. They’re terrible at building nests, they throw some sticks and some tie wraps on the ground and lay their eggs. And it works, it is perfect for their environment. Imagine building a beautiful nest, just to get shooed off a balcony again. My belongings are still unpacked and in boxes, it took me months to hang some things on the walls. I feel like I made myself a pigeon nest in order to survive.
Duivennest
Duivennest - For Duivennest I nestled in the Pink Room next to my (ex)studio. This work has been inspired by and made specifically for this abandoned classroom. How perfect this space is for a bird nest! With big vents leading through the building, a roof that’s falling apart, connected to a tower. I imagine countless pigeons making a headquarters here, scuffing around, shitting everywhere, but instead it’s empty, not being used at all.
Midas
Midas - Midas is a one-on one- performance series about Trans- and Queer shame. It is a cry to not fall into the pitfalls of shame and get lost in the keeping of secrets. With openness we can fight the shaming for unchangeable and harmless characteristics. Openness as radical resistance. Mario Mieli inpires me in this with his quote: “I keep my treasure in my arse, but then my arse is open for everyone...” (Towards a Gay Communism, 1977) The paintings are visualizations of the performance, and at the same time also the inspiration for the performance. Body hair, shells and personal writings are repeating patterns. During my performance I wrote my secrets in shells and burried them next to the marram grass. The grass will grow here and whisper my secrets, just like the Greek myth of King Midas and the Donkey Ears. Only I choose to share my secrets. I hope that the secrets will spread . That everyone will hear them, recognize themselves in my shame or become conscious of its existence.
Whisper to the Sea
Whisper to the Sea - Ceramic work made for Midas. "Write a secret, write a beauty, write a pain, whisper to the sea".
Oester Catalogus
Oester Catalogus - (2024) is a 72-page publication presenting an overview of my oyster shell collection, gathered from Oslofjord and Hoek van Holland. These shells form a recurring theme and major source of inspiration in my painting practice. Through documentation, the publication highlights their distinctive shapes, textures, colors, and patterns, functioning as artistic reference.
Groen is iets, blauw is het niets
Groen is iets, blauw is het niets - Tussen oer-Hollandse plakplinten en Noorse bossen ontstaat een stille sterrenhemel. Dit werk richt zich op het vastleggen en eren van kleine momenten. De polaroidfoto’s zijn direct op het werk bevestigd, zoals foto's in Noorse hyttes aan de muur worden gehangen: zonder glas, vaak eenvoudig omlijst met de hand gespijkerd hout. In deze directe, huiselijke manier van ophangen worden herinneringen vereeuwigd. De beelden tonen landschappen, sporen van aanwezigheid en details uit het dagelijkse buitenleven. Het werk reflecteert op vertraging, aandacht en de waarde van het alledaagse, en stelt de vraag hoe we herinneren wat ooit was.
May I Never Have a Penis
May I Never Have a Penis - May I Never Have a Penis is a manifestation of the non-binary sex and/or body. I wish to never have a penis; this means that I am fully happy with how my body is now. My fabrics are a visualization of this thought, borrowing elements from protest banners. The performance is more vulnerable, I did not randomly wake up one day with the confidence that I have now. It was a process of discovery, shame, self-hate and learning to love again. During the performance I reveal my banners and read a text with topics of gender- and genital-performativity. Then I will ask the audience to hold me, care for me. A moment of collective care, where I would like me to be almost symbolic for other trans bodies.

Muzen van Morgen Eindexpositie

Datum:
Locatie: Museum Jan Cunen
In samenwerking met: AVROTROS

Eind expositie van het talentontwikkeling traject de Muzen van Morgen door AVROTROS

Wild Summer of Art 2026

Datum:
Locatie: BRUTUS

Wild Summer of Art is een grootschalige, rauwe kunstexpositie in Brutus Rotterdam, met 6.000m² aan werk van aanstormend talent en gevestigde namen. Het evenement biedt zintuigprikkelende kunst, performances, filmvertoningen en muziek in een industriële setting. De tentoonstelling loopt doorgaans van juli tot eind augustus, met een focus op de Rotterdamse kunstscene.

Wild Summer of Art 2026

Datum:
Locatie: Rotterd
In samenwerking met: BRUTUS

Muzen van Morgen

Datum:
In samenwerking met: AVROTROS

MUZE Magazine presenteert: de Muzen van Morgen 2026.

Uit meer dan driehonderd aanmeldingen selecteerde een vakjury, bestaande uit kunstenaar Iriée Zamblée, curator Heske ten Cate en museumdirecteur Beatrice von Bormann, vier veelbelovende kunstenaars.

Zij krijgen een jaar lang een podium binnen het nieuwe talententraject van AVROTROS.

https://www.avrotros.nl/article/de-muzen-van-morgen-2026-4x-deze-kunstenaars-moet-je-in-de-gaten-houden~1367/

Spookstad Duivennest

Datum:
Locatie: Extrapool
In samenwerking met: Puck Dekker, Jannah van Hout, Pan Qui, Alma van Woudenberg en Britt van den Boogaard

There are 10.000 pigeons in Rotterdam and 12.000 empty buildings.

Spookstad Duivennest is an ongoing project, which started during my residency at Extrapool, Destillaat #26. It is my way of dealing with my current housing insecurity and the inability to nestle. Everything goes fast, faster and fastest in this big city, nothing feels permanent anymore. How does one make a home, if you are not sure of how long you can stay?

https://chrisnelck.com/Untitled-Page-1
Deze kunstenaar heeft nog geen toekenningen.