Erwin de Vries - Forms of freedom

Zest for life

Erwin de Vries moved to the Netherlands at the age of nineteen, where he studied at the art academy in The Hague and the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam. He quickly made a name for himself as a sculptor and painter. De Vries is the artist behind the National Slavery Monument in Amsterdam's Oosterpark, where the Keti Koti (broken chains) commemoration takes place every year on 1 July in memory of the abolition of slavery in Suriname and the Dutch Caribbean. 

After his death, De Vries left behind an extensive and interesting oeuvre, ranging from expressionist sculptures and free compositions to striking portraits and both abstract expressionist and figurative paintings and drawings. The colourful palette of his paintings reflects his Caribbean background and source of inspiration. De Vries' art testifies to an enormous zest for life: earthly life and people, with an emphasis on eroticism and women, are central to his work.

The exhibition focuses in particular on his sculptures, selected from various institutional and private collections, most of which have never been shown publicly before.