Berndnaut Smilde (Groningen, 1978) is a Dutch visual artist.

Early life

edit

Berndnaut Smilde was born in 1978 in Groningen.[1] In 2005,[citation needed] Smilde graduated with a master's degree in fine art from the Frank Mohr Institute of Hanze University in Groningen.[1][2]

Career

edit

Smilde's best known works include the series Conditioner; sculptures that spread an antiseptic scent throughout several rooms,[3] and Unflattened, which shows an inverted rainbow.[4]

I see them as temporary sculptures of almost nothing — the edge of materiality. It looks like you can dive into them or grab them, but they just fall apart. There's a duality there that I really like, where you're trying to achieve this ideal thing that then just collapses moments later.[5]

Smilde in an interview with IGNANT

In 2012 he created a series of self-made clouds, of which Nimbus II, 2012, first performed in the Lady Chapel of Hoorn, was included in London's Saatchi Gallery.[6] He chooses locations that are old, damp, that have no air circulation.[5] Time magazine called this technique one of the fifty best inventions of 2012.[7][8]

In a collaboration with the photographer Simon Procter Smilde signature manufactured cloudscapes with fashion luminaries Karl Lagerfeld, Dolce & Gabbana, Donatella Versace and Alber Elbaz. The pictures appeared in feature in the September 2013 issue "ICONOCLOUDS" of Harper's Bazaar U.S. [9][10]

Exhibitions

edit

Group shows

edit

Awards

edit

Smilde won a stipend from the Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts.[1]

Sources

edit
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Malinsky, Richard (22 June 2017). "An Interview with Berndnaut Smilde". The Woven Tale Press. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Punj, Rajesh (24 May 2014). "Berndnaut Smilde interview". Out of Nothing. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  3. ^ Image of one of the sculptures
  4. ^ "Unflattened" accompanied by images of the rainbow, '5uur' blog post.
  5. ^ a b Flanagan, Rosie (1 June 2018). "Berndnaut Smilde, The Man Who Creates Clouds". IGNANT. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  6. ^ "Selected Works by Berndnaut Smilde". Saatchi Gallery.
  7. ^ "Best Inventions of the Year 2012 - Indoor Clouds". Time. 1 November 2012.
  8. ^ Artist creates clouds indoors. Named one of Time magazine's 'Best Inventions of the Year 2012' Archived 3 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ Moret, A. (24 September 2013). "Berndnaut Smilde: ICONOCLOUDS x Harper's Bazaar". Installation Mag. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  10. ^ Alderson, Rob (19 August 2013). "Berndnaut Smilde's indoor clouds meet fashion icons for Harper's Bazaar". itsnicethat.com. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
edit