“Dutch Design in NYC” Exhibition Showcases Process-Driven Innovation
Opening on September 12 and running through December 20 at the designers’ co-op Colony, the exhibition “Dutch Design in NYC” will showcase process-driven work by seven design talents from the Netherlands.
Curated collaboratively by Jean Lin, founder of Colony, and Margriet Vollenberg, founder of Ventura Projects, the show will run concurrently with Colony’s regular roster of independent American designers in its space at 324 Canal Street to juxtapose works from tangential markets. The project is supported by Dutch Culture USA, a program of the Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in New York.
The following seven artists are featured in Dutch Design in NYC:
Aliki van der Kruijs
Based in the Hague, Aliki van der Kruijs works mainly with textiles based on her interest in earth science and matter. Her Made by Rain porcelain collection follows up on the textile collection, both of which were developed during a creative residency in Arita, Japan. Working in collaboration with the Japanese potter Fukusengama, she devised a process to “draw” on porcelain by creating modest patterning with actual rain using three tones of the typical “Fukusen blue” glaze color.
Rick Tegelaar
From his studio and workshop in Arnhem, Rick Tegelaar works with uncommon materials to create beautifully shaped forms with delicate aesthetics. His Meshmatics Chandelier was formed from chicken wire, stretched to shrink and fit precisely over a mold, with the wire achieving different levels of transparency and acting as a reflector for the integrated LED light.
Alissa+Nienke
Founded in 2013 by Alissa van Asseldonk and Nienke Bongers, Alissa+Nienke is a material research and design studio specializing in exciting surface materials for interior architecture. The firm’s New Wave design is a large stainless-steel panel that gets its volume via incisions and foldings, which catch light from different angles. The result is a mesmerizing reflective surface, which takes on the colors from its surroundings and looks different in every space.
Studio Kalff
Designer Roos Kalff, based in Amsterdam at her Studio Kalff, has an aesthetic that melds past and present, evident in her Fairy Lights series that uses vintage and hand-blown glassware to create contemporary lighting and table pieces that are both function and sustainable. All the glassware is handmade and each piece is unique.
Aleksandra Gaca
A pioneer in innovative 3D textiles who often collaborates with architects such as John Pawson and Fokkema & Partners, Aleksandra Gaca unites experimental weaving techniques with her own sensuous approach to color and pattern. She sometimes creates her sample on a handloom before transferring the concept to industrial machines. Her Architextiles Art Panels feature sound-absorbent fabrics in vibrant color combinations—red coral and honey, for example—to create a visual, tactile, and auditory experience.
Studio Jeroen Wand
Based in Eindhoven, Studio Jeroen Wand creates objects and installations that challenge the established order with dynamic raw and unpolished design offering alternative forms of what is considered beautiful. In his Phases series of vases, two phases of the same material react with each other to create its own unique form. Wand immerses a dried cast into newly mixed plaster multiple times, allowing it to form its own rough and irregular pattern.
Studio Nienke Hoogvliet
Nienke Hoogvliet works from her design studio on the Hague on materials that raise awareness of social and environmental problems in the textile, leather, and food industries—she has even discovered a way of tanning discarded fish skins into beautiful and sustainable leather. Seeing blankets as a metaphor for protection, she crafted her HIDE series of natural materials such as mohair and cotton with one protective version (in gray and based on thick elephant hide, shown here) and one fragile (in pink and based on human skin).
