Grant Recipients Grants to Artists Visual Arts 2009

Guido van der Werve

A close up, black and white portrait of Guido van der Werve in front of a black background. He has short hair and looks directly at the camera. The image itself is lightly scratched.
  • 2009 Grants to Artists
  • Visual Arts
  • Visual Artist
  • Born Papendrecht, Netherlands, 1977
  • Lives in Amsterdam, The Netherlands and Jamsa, Finland
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  • Additional Information
  • roofvogel.org

Looking back I can say that the grant I received made a great contribution to both my artistic development and my career. Because I received the grant I could finish nummer twaalf without delays and my extended stay in New York put my career on a new level and gave me numerous opportunities to show my work in New York and other places in the U.S.A.

- Guido van der Werve, January 2, 2010

Artist Statement

In order to manage the infinite amount of moves and variations during a chess game, grandmasters have developed a certain intuition which is based on experience in compositional aesthetics. Rather than trying to calculate the infinite amount of moves and consequences each move has, they look at the chess board and make a move that simply feels right.

- December 2008

Biography

Visual artist Guido van der Werve pursued studies in industrial design, archaeology, music composition, and Russian language and literature at several universities in the Netherlands before beginning to create his first video documented performances around 2000. Since that time he has created a variety of works, including films, videos, and artist's books.

Van der Werve has held solo exhibitions at many galleries and institutions in the Netherlands, Europe, and United States. Before receiving his 2009 Grants to Artists award, van der Werve's work was featured in a solo exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art Portland (2007), and both a group and solo exhibition at Gallery Marc Foxx in Los Angeles (2007 and 2008). Van der Werve's 2009 Grants to Artists award supported the creation of his work Nummer twaalf: variations on a theme, which has been presented internationally at institutions including the Frans Hals Museum (2009), Luhring Augustine (2010), and the Saint Louis Art Museum (2011).

Since receiving his 2009 FCA grant, van der Werve's work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington DC (2009); Gallery Marc Foxx, Los Angeles (2009, 2013); Luhring Augustine, New York (2010) and Bushwick (2012); The Museum of Modern Art (2013); The High Line (2013); the Guiliani Foundation, Rome (2013); Davis Museum at Wellesley College (2014); University of Michigan Museum of Art (2014); Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, Salt Lake City (2014); and the Warehouse Dallas (2014). He has also since shown work in group exhibitions across Europe and the United States.

In 2010, van der Werve premiered the endurance performance piece Running to Rachmaninoff as part of Greater New York at MoMA PS1. The artist ran 29 miles, from MoMA PS1 to Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York, to place chamomile flowers on the grave of Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943), a Russian composer and concert pianist. Van der Werve's 5th annual Running to Rachmaninoff was held in fall 2014. Van der Werve was in residence at Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin from 2011 to 2012.

After receiving his 2009 Grants to Artists award, van der Werve's film, Nummer veertien, home (2012), won the Golden Calf award in Amsterdam for Best Short Film (2013). The artist has also received several awards, honors, and nominations from festivals and institutions in the Netherlands. Van der Werve is represented by Monitor Gallery in Rome, Gallery Juliete Jongma in Amsterdam, Marc Foxx Gallery in Los Angeles, and Luhring Augustine Gallery in New York.

Van der Werve graduated with a degree in audiovisual arts from Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam. He completed the International Studio and Curatorial Program in Brooklyn in 2008 and he was a resident artist at the Rijksacademy in Amsterdam in 2006 and 2007.

A video still of a snow dusted mountain range. On the right, a small figure is seen climbing these mountains. Behind this, in the distance, the peak of a large mountain is visible.
FCA-supported Nummer twaalf, 2009, 40:00 minutes, 4K video.
A video still of a person at dawn, standing outside a small structure, facing away from the structure and looking towards the distance. The structure is wood paneled and has a triangle roof. It is only slightly taller than the figure. All around this, numerous small scrubs are scattered across a sandy landscape. In the distant background, a winding pathway is visible. The entire image is hued with a cool colors and there is minimal bright light.
FCA-supported Nummer twaalf, 2009, 40:00 minutes, 4K video.
A video still of a person standing outside a small structure, in front of low hills dotted with small scrubs. The sky is a light purple with bits of pink near the bottom. In the upper right, the moon is visible.
FCA-supported Nummer twaalf, 2009, 40:00 minutes, 4K video.
A video still of a rocky terrain. A far away person is visible as they lean against a small tree in the middle of this terrain. The sky is bright blue sky and criss-crossed with thin lines of clouds. In the background, a blue hued mountain range is visible.
FCA-supported Nummer twaalf, 2009, 40:00 minutes, 4K video.
A performance still of a string orchestra in the corner of an ornate room. Around the orchestra, numerous couples are engaged in chess games. The room has numerous framed images on the wall and ornate borders on the ceiling. On the far wall, there are two large windows and a bust sculpture between them.
untitled 176.2 x 101.6 cm, from FCA-supported Nummer twaalf, 2009. Photo by Willem van der Jagt.
A performance still of van der Werve seated on the floor, with his legs crossed, besides a small structure, surrounded by low shrubs. Many small streaks of light are visible in the sky.
untitled 976.2 x 101.6 cm, from FCA-supported Nummer twaalf, 2009. Photo by Willem van der Jagt.
A performance still of the side of a mountain. The forefront is covered by many rocks. Just beyond that, there is a thin line of pine trees on red soil. In the background, numerous other mountains are visible. The sky is bright blue with a large cloud on the left and thin stripes of clouds criss-crossed elsewhere.
untitled 576.2 x 101.6 cm, from FCA-supported Nummer twaalf, 2009. Photo by Willem van der Jagt.
A performance still of a grassy terrain covered by the stumps and remains of light grey trees. Around this, there are numerous small white flowers and red bushes. A person can be seen in the distance, traversing this terrain.
untitled 476.2 x 101.6 cm, from FCA-supported Nummer twaalf, 2009. Photo by Willem van der Jagt.