The practice of artist Kevin Bauer is a continuous investigation of form, in terms of traditional sculpture: how volume relates to space, to other volumes in space and how humans relate to both. Yet his approach is far from traditional. ‘I assemble my sculptures from separate elements, aiming for compositions that come across as prototypes, as steps in a process of subsequent configurations. My sculptures play with the visual language of practical functionality, a familiarity connecting them to industrial design, architecture and construction.’
‘I enjoy questioning the objects that surround us: how does their function connect to the elements they are constructed from? I reverse-engineer and transform parts that are industrially produced, decontextualising them, removing their practical application and employing them as visual elements. My creative process is directed by ‘material intuïtion’. I started out using found objects and materials that I deconstructed, modified or imitated. Nowadays I manufacture virtually all components of the works myself, applying different techniques, from traditional molding techniques to industrial processes. Through experiment I explore the characteristics of a wide range of materials. I play with the typical, recognisable visual and tactile qualities of materials, aiming to create dynamic and unpredictability through juxtaposition, similarity, simulacra, and strong contrasts between organic and geometrical shapes, surfaces, roughness and finesse.’
Kevin states that his work refers to industrial mass production, commerce and consumerism and touches on the distinction we make between functional and non-functional objects: the underlying categorization that also determines our definition of visual art. ‘The designed environment in which we live, the manufacturability of our physical living environment, is the subject I think about and want to question.’
• Recent exhibitions at Galerie Bart: Art Rotterdam 2024 • Art Island 2023 • Without the Promise of Success 2022 • Art Pong 20-20 at Expo Bart Nijmegen.
CV
Kevin Bauer, born in 1987, in Apeldoorn, currently lives and works in The Hague. In 2013 he completed his bachelor at AKI Arte Academy of Art and Design in Enschede, after having graduated from CIBAB Vakcollege, Zwolle in 2008.
Kevin’s exhibitions include a group exhibition at Verbeke Foundation, Stekene (BE), Without the Promise of Success at Galerie Bart in 2022, Your Playground group exhibition at MuseumNacht Amsterdam, Arti et Amicitiae, Amsterdam, OCTA group exhibition at Kunstliefde, Utrecht Alles Easy duo show / project with Samuel Treindl at Hase29, Osnabrück (DE).
Kevin stayed as artist in residence in 2017 for NPO Radio 4 de Torenkamer, at VondelCS in Amsterdam. In 2016 he received the Stipend for Young Talent by the Mondriaan Fund and the Stroom Pro Invest stipend by Stroom, the Hague, after having received the International Outstanding Student In Contemporary Sculpture Award by Grounds For Sculpture, Hamilton, New Jersey, US in 2013. His work has been included in the collections of AKZO Nobel Art Foundation, Amsterdam, Collection Gallery Nouvelles Images, The Hague, Art collection Amsterdam Court of Law, Amsterdam and several (inter)national private collections.
Artworks
Publicity
2022•
04.05 NRC Handelsblad ‘Galerietips: nutteloosheid, eindeloze materie en schattige totems’, by Toef Jaeger.
2021•
17.01 De Lage Landen Vorm volgt uit functie? Bij Kevin Bauer is het andersom by Maarten Buser.
2020 •
06.05 Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung Arbeiten von Kevin Bauer und Samuel Treindl im Kunstraum by Tom Bullmann.
06.03 taNDem Alles Easy, an Artists‘ Road Trip, Factory, Exhibition, editorial.
12.01 Lost Painters Logman; Ongebraukelijk – Melle Aussems & Kevin Bauer by Niek Hendrix.
2019 •
Pandora tijdschrift voor kunst & literatuur n3/2019
Mondriaanfonds PalzBiënale 2020, editorial.
2018 •
20.09 Keep an Eye Foundation Spacemakers by Deborah van den Herik.
27.07 KunstblijfteenRaadsel Kevin Bauer – Vormaliteit 2 – 37PK by Paul Voors.
ARTtube Vormaliteit – een film over Kevin Bauer, editorial.
2017 •
De Stijl + De Muze – NR5 ‘Architectuur in stijl’ p. 3 Onomatopoeia
De Stijl + De Muze – NR4 ‘De kunst in stijl’ p. 10 Onomatopoeia
2016 •
00.00 Rotterdam Contemporary Art Fair Catalogue.
00.00 AkzoNobel Art Space – Culture of Colors, p. 45 uitgave AkzoNobel.
2015•
00.11 Galerie Helder Uit de Waan van de Dag, 5 jaar Galerie Helder.
00.00 Kunstvereniging Diepenheim ‘Veldwerk’ 25 jaar Kunstvereniging Diepenheim.
27.03 Kunstvereniging Diepenheim, De Roskam Waar de Hand Zingt’ is een ode aan de kunst.
22.03 Mister Motley Waar de Hand Zingt by Wieke Teselink.