Dutch Pavilion at the 56th Venice Biennale

Artist: Herman de Vries

Curators: Colin Huizing, Cees de Boer

Commissioner: Mondriaan Fund

Venue: Pavilion at Giardini

The pieces that comprise herman de vries’s contribution to the 2015 Biennale on behalf of the Netherlands may not be immediately recognizable as artworks. His project “to be all ways to be” (he eschews caps in titles and his own name to avoid hierarchy), continues his use of organic materials and spans far beyond the Gerrit Rietveld-designed Dutch Pavilion, into the Giardini and further, out to multiple locations in the lagoon. What could be considered the heart of the project, natura mater is located on Lazzaretto Vecchio. The now-uninhabited island once housed a quarantine area for those thought to be suffering from the plague or subsequent infectious disease outbreaks. Visitors can hop on specially chartered boats to go have a look.