Guido van der Werve
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.
