herman de vries – vergehen (passing)

In the work of the internationally renowned artist herman de vries (born 1931 in Alkmaar/NL), chance, change and the permanent transformation of all being are central. Since the 1950s he has experimented with drawings, painting, installations, publications and increasingly with natural materials, whose transience he exhibits. "chance and change" herman de vries sees as the framework of his life, from which he can never step out. Since the 1960s, he has made many and long journeys. In addition to being open to the wider world, de vries also sought out the intimacy of nature to discover his working materials as well as his artistic methods there. His studio is the Steigerwald, where he has lived for five decades.

Something passes: a flower, a life, time. It is the active moment of passing that herman de vries reveals to us in his works. With every step, with every heartbeat, with every blossom, life passes in us and around us. It changes in it, transforms its shape but never its essence. To live is to die is to live. In a poem, de vries captures his joy at being alive in the face of transience. "embraced by the world i will die". World is part of us and we of it. In dance as an expression of joy, we pass away. What a comforting image of the inevitable.