Guido van der Werve
Born 1977, Papendrecht (NL)
Lives and works in Berlin (DE)
Guido van der Werve is a Dutch filmmaker and artist whose work has been exhibited and screened widely, finding recognition in both the art and film world. He is best known for documented performances in which he pushes his body to its physical limits, accompanied by classical musical arrangements – often composed by himself. Among the feats of incredible endurance and peril the artist has performed—standing on the North Pole for 24 hours, completing a 1500 kilometer triathlon, setting himself on fire, being hit by a speeding car—he finds moments of serenity and even banality in each rendition.
Van der Werve started out as a performance artist but unwilling to perform live and more than once, he began to document his performances. Developing this practice, he became interested in film and cinematography, where he found a similar emotional directness as in music. The foundation of Van der Werve’s work is performance, but he has incorporated music, text, and athletics as recurring elements. Thus far, van der Werve has created fifteen elaborate video works, all of which are numbered in Dutch and subtitled in English. Van der Werve is currently working on a new full-length feature film.
Guido van der Werve (b. 1977 in Papendrecht, NL) lives and works in Amsterdam (NL), Berlin (DE) and Hassi (FI). He studied at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam (NL) from 1998 until 2003 and he was a resident at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam (NL) in 2006 and 2007. He took part in the International Studio and Curatorial Program in New York (US) in 2008. In 2011, Van der Werve was a resident at the Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin (DE) in 2011. Van der Werve has also studied Industrial Design at the Technical Univerity, Delft (NL); Classical Archaeology at the University of Amsterdam (NL); Russian language, culture and literature at the University of Amsterdam (NL) and he is trained as a classical pianist at the Rotterdam Conservatory (NL).
The artist has received many awards including the Volkskrant Beeldende Kunst Prijs in 2007 (NL); the Grant to Artists of the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, New York, NY (US) in 2008; the Prix International d’Art Contemporain of the Foundation Prince Pierre de Monaco in 2010 (MC); the Charlotte Koehler Prijs from the Prins Bernhard Cultuur Fonds in 2012 (NL) and the Grand Prix (Gouden Kalf) for Best Short Film at the Netherlands Film Festival in 2013.
Van der Werve’s work has been exhibited at the Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA (US); Kyoto City University of Arts Art Gallery, Kyoto (JP); Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY (US); Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (NL); Kunsthalle, Basel (CH); Tel Aviv Art Museum, Tel Aviv (IL); Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei (TW); Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk (DK); the High Line in New York, NY (US); Fluentum, Berlin (DE), and in many other venues and festivals.
His work can be found in the collections of international institutions such as: Museum of Modern Art in New York, NY (US); Sammlung Goetz in Munich (DE); The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC (US); Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam (NL); Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam (NL); Museum Voorlinden in Wassenaar (NL); Dallas Museum of Art in Dallas, TX (US); Zabludowicz Collection in London (UK); Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea in Turin (IT) and others.
Van der Werve’s musical compositions have been performed live by various orchestral arrangements including: Fluentum in Berlin (DE); the Matangi Quartet at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam (NL); the American Symphony Orchestra at MoMA/PS1 in New York, NY (US); the St. Louis Philharmonic at the World Chess Hall of Fame in St. Louis, MO (US) and the Orchestra of Europe at the Clara Kirche in Basel (CH).
-
Opening Soon | 54 White Street
GRIMM's new gallery in Tribeca will open February 16, 2021 16 Feb - 6 Mar 2021 GRIMM 54 White St, New York, NY (US)Join us in February 2021 for the grand opening of GRIMM's new space in Tribeca at 54 White Street. For more further information, please email info@grimmgallery.comRead more -
Guido van der Werve
CONDO São Paulo 30 Mar - 18 May 2019 Rua Estados Unidos 1324, São Paolo (BR), Other locations -
Guido van der Werve
Nummer veertien | Nummer zeventien 22 Mar - 4 May 2019 GRIMM Keizersgracht 241, Amsterdam (NL) -
Guido van der Werve
Stills 22 Mar - 4 May 2019 GRIMM Keizersgracht 241, Amsterdam (NL) -
Freedom | Fifty Key Dutch Artworks Since 1968
Group exhibition, curated by Hans den Hartog Jager 18 Jan - 12 May 2019 Museum de Fundatie, Zwolle (NL), Other locationsFreedom – The Fifty Key Dutch Artworks Since 1968 is an ambitious and somewhat unconventional project will feature the fifty ‘key artworks’, the leading works produced in the Netherlands over...Read more
-
Three galleries come together to show Guido van der Werve’s exhibition exclusively online
Mark Westall, FAD Magazine, May 12, 2020 -
Viewing Room: Nummer veertien, home
GRIMM Press Release, May 11, 2020 -
Guido van der Werve: ‘Nummer veertien, home
Roberta Smith, The New York Times -
Berlin puts its spin on the art world with Gallery Weekend
Caroline Roux, Financial Times, May 1, 2019 -
Artist Guido van der Werve Pushes His Body to the Limit. Then a Life-Changing Accident Almost Ended It All
Kate Brown, Artnet news, April 25, 2019 -
FINGERS CROSSED: Silas Martí on SP-Arte week and the first São Paulo edition of Condo
Silas Martí, Artforum, April 9, 2019 -
Tegen de richting van de aarde in (in Dutch)
Kees Keijer, Het Parool, March 29, 2019 -
Burned, frozen, winched, dangled and hit by a car: the shocking extreme art of Guido van der Werve
John Paul Stonard, The Guardian, September 15, 2017 -
Walter Benjamin’s Unfinished Magnum Opus, Revisited Through Contemporary Art
David Wallace, The New Yorker, May 9, 2017 -
The Things You Should Know About Dutch Artist Guido van Der Werve
Culture Trip, November 21, 2016 -
Weloverwogen keuze (in Dutch)
Christiaan Paauwe, Het Parool, April 15, 2016 -
Kunst, sport, leven...Waarom?! (in Dutch)
Hans den Hartog Jager, NRC, April 14, 2016 -
Guido van der Werve toot de naakte mens. Al copulerend. (in Dutch)
Jan Pieter Ekker, Het Parool, April 6, 2016 -
Mindfulness-Blowing Sex: Guido van der Werve's Latest Video Work Bares More than Souls
Jessica Dawson, The Village Voice, January 19, 2016 -
Ontdek museum Dhondt-Dhaenens in Deurle, België! Art in the Rhineland and beyond Een banale odyssee Guido
Hinde Haest, Metropolis M, February 28, 2013 -
Triaesthete
Jerry Saltz, New York , October 4, 2012 -
Review of Guido van der Werve's Series of Short Films at the Hirshhorn
Jessica Dawson, The Washington Post, August 4, 2009 -
Island as Inspiration and Canvas
Roberta Smith, New York Times, June 25, 2009 -
Chopin, melancholy, pianos and slapstick
Jennifer Higgie, Frieze , April 1, 2008 -
Guido van der Werve
Cathryn Drake, Artforum, May 1, 2006