Nicole Driessens and Ivo van den Baar WANDSCHAPPEN work in two practices: autonomous art and design. The artists are extremely sensitive to their environment and they actively contribute to improving it. The same happens at locations where they work. Their Art does not solve problems, but is capable of generating awareness. In this sense, their motivation as an artist is a form of social activism.
An icon, the felt plant, functions in both the art and design world. The appearance of windowsill plants in empty houses indicates the location of people who have found a place to stay in Rotterdam Charlois after wandering through Europe. Mountains of bulky waste, with plants, are the last witnesses of families who have left headlong for refusing a residence permit. All works find their way via galleries, fairs and design platforms to corporate collections, institutions and private individuals. The symbiosis between these worlds is just as natural as the creation of the various works together.
No One Is Illegal - Installation at OBJECT Rotterdam, July 2021, during Art Week rotterdam.
Driessens & van den Baar have presented the first life size tent installation to translocate the world of refugees in the forests of Duinkerke (FR) in to the art world. “No One Is Illegal” is an installation inspired by the terrible housing situation of refugees on their way to reach England. A group of Belgium volunteers, guided by Saar Depuydt, support these people with food, clothing, tents and sleeping bags, to provide the basic necessities of life.
Driessens & van den Baar have developed a growing collection of small wool felt art works, “Duinkerke”, to be sold. 50% Of the price, each €350,- is transferred to Saar, to support her work for the refugees Duinkerke Collection
Or ask for information at: welkom@nieuwcharlois.nl
Thanks to the support of CBK Rotterdam and Droom en Daad Rotterdam
Next presentation: Jun6th - July 3th, solo show at SMAK Gent
Trace IX - Trace is an ongoing series of works inspired by the growing collection of photos of waste in the streets of Rotterdam South. The waste is the final trace of people who’ve lived in these neighborhoods but had to leave to start a new life somewhere else after loosing their permit, job or house.
Trace is a series made in different techniques such as epoxy resin, wool felt and other materials.
Material: Woolfelt.
Size: 320 x 170 cm.
2017.
First time presented in Gallery NL = US Rotterdam June 2017
Duinkerke ; No One Is Illegal - Three works, wol felt, 42 x 30 cm each. Limited edition 99 works each, € 350,- each, from which € 175,- for the refugees in the forests around Duinkerke FR, helped by Saar Depuydt and friends, citizens of Gent BE. Covid 19 is a problem for everyone but nothing compared to the people trying to reach England by boat after having travelled through Europe for months. No One Is Illegal - Everyone Is Responsable. 56 works have been sold. The project will continue as long as necessary. Presentations: gallery Untitled oktober 2020, OBJECT Rotterdam 2021 during Art Week Rotterdam, June 6th - July 3th 2022 , soloshow at SMAK Gent For inquiries: ivo@wandschappen.nl
Multiple Choice - Multiple Choice – Sculpture of knitted cotton and epoxy resin, 153 x 125 x 17 cm. 2020
Presented for the first time at “It’s no rocket science” the solo show of Driessens en van den Baar at Gallery Untitled. The work is one of the five new textile sculptures developed during the first Covid 19 lockdown months (March – June 2020). The sculptures are the outcome of the research of the figures and statistics about Covid 19 published in national papers. “Multiple Choice” includes the R factor as a spatial system and shows the horrible beauty of a perfect infection rate 2.
Two is Tree - Sculpture of wool felt, 250 x 250 x 220 cm. Presented for the first time at "It's no rocket science" the solo show of Driessens and van den Baar at Gallery Untitled. The work is one of the five new textile sculptures developed during the first Covid 19 lockdown months (March - June 2020). The sculptures are the outcome of the research of the figures and statistics about Covid 19 published in national papers. "Two is Tree" includes the R factor as a spatial system the beauty of a perfect infection rate 2.
Resettlement - Resettlement is a wall art work made of wool plate and wool felt, 170 x 100 x 1 cm.
Since ten years, when the first refugees reached Lampedusa (at the same moment Driessens & van den Baar had their first solo show in Milano) to find a new life in Europe, Driessens and van den Baar have made works about this subject. Migration, Covid 19 and Black Lives Matter find each other in several series of art works in 2020. Resettlement connects ideas about the wander routes through all these countries, the search for protection , warmth and dignity. Wool felt protects against cold, heath, water and fire.
Nieuw Nederlands Perspectief - The New Dutch Flag, to make black people a real part of our identity.
"Black Lives Matter"
Material: Woolfelt.
Size: 55 x 80 x 1,5 cm.
July 7th 2020
Can be ordered as a real flag, size 100 x 60 cm
Icarus - From the Corona Series 2020.
In this series of art works, images are distilled from the large amounts of graphs and numbers about the Covid 19 crisis that come to us every day. The aesthetics of the gruesome numbers, related to our youthful enthusiasm for
the great charts in De Grote Bosatlas demand their own meaning.
Material: woolfelt.
Size: 70 x 90 x 6 cm.
march 2020.
First time presented in the show “Figures and More” during South Explorer 19, 20 and 21 june 2020
China Meets Brazil - In this series of art works, images are distilled from the large amounts of graphs and numbers about the Covid 19 crisis that come to us every day. The aesthetics of the gruesome numbers, related to our youthful enthusiasm for
the great charts in De Grote Bosatlas demand their own meaning.
Material: Woolfelt. Embroidery silk
Size: 50 x 50 x 1 cm.
February 2020.
First time presented in the show “Figures and More” during South Explorer 19, 20 and 21 june 2020
Point of View - When we look outside we see different worlds, according the way we look. Since ten years (2009 - 2019) we see people trying to find a new life by crossing the Mediterranean Sea to reach Europe. We let them try and dye,
