Berndnaut Smilde

b. 1978

See Works Available

Biography

Berndnaut Smilde was born in 1978 in Groningen, The Netherlands. He currently lives and works in Amsterdam.

Smilde’s work consists of installations, sculptures and photos. Using his daily surroundings and spaces as motives, Smilde is interested in the temporal nature of construction and deconstruction. His work refers to both the physical state of a building as well as a moment of revelation that depicts either hope or fragility. Smilde analyses spaces and their appearance and takes them apart to investigate their unique details and features. His artistic point of view often centres on duality. His works question: inside and outside, temporality, size, the function of materials and architectural elements.

Smilde holds an MA from the Frank Mohr Institute, Groningen. Awards include a start stipend from The Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture. Exhibitions include: De Groen Collection, Arnhem, The Netherlands (2017); From Saatchi Gallery, London, UK (2017, 2012); Ronchini Gallery, London, UK (2017, 2014); Spazio 22, Milan, Italy (2016); The Hague, The Netherlands (2015, 2012); Hong Gah Museum, Taipei, Taiwan (2016); Shanghai 21st Century Minsheng Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, China (2014) and Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland (2008). He is in the permanent collections of Smithsonian Institute, Washington, USA; Saatchi Gallery, London, UK; Bonnefanten Museum, Maastricht, The Netherlands; Frans Hals Museum – De Hallen Haarlem, The Netherlands; Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.

Click here to download full CV

Click here to watch a feature on the Nimbus series from the Avant/Garde diaries. 

Click here to watch a BBC feature on Berndnaut Smilde, including the making of a work in the Nimbus series.

Click here to watch a video of Berndnaut Smilde creating a cloud for the work Nimbus II.

Exhibitions

2022 Momentum, Ronchini, London

2021 Traumbild Senden, Museum gegenstandsfreier Kunst, Otterndorf, Germany

World Expo 2020, Netherlands Pavilion, Dubai, UAE

2020 I skyene, Stavanger Art Museum, Stavanger, Norway

Gathering Clouds, George Eastman Museum, Rochester, USA

Wolken in der Zeitgenössischen Kunst, Olderburger Kunstverein, Oldenburg, Germany

Mirrors of Time, Kasteel d’Aspremont Lynden, Oud Rekem, Belgium

Doors are closed. All people are gone., Motel Spatie X Collectie De.Groen, The Netherlands

Zonamaco, Ronchini Gallery, Mexico

2019 O que emana da agua, Carbono Gallery, Sao Paulo, Brazil

Up Date, Galerie Sign, groningen, The Netherlands

Pick Me, We Like Art @ De.Groen Fine Art Collection, Arnhem, The Netherlands Mythe, Cwart, Knokke Heist, Belgium

Dallas Art Fair, Ronchini Gallery, USA

2018 Breaking The Fourth Wall, The Armory Show, New York, USA

Pillar of Cloud, Hermann Struck Museum, Haifa, Israel

We Like Art, Westergasfabriek, Amsterdam

Uitnacht Arnhem, CEA, Arnhem, Netherlands

Nimbus, Winston Wachter Fine Art, Seattle, USA

2017  VISITANTS, FORM, Perth, Australia

Polderlicht, Oosterpark, Amsterdam

Secret Postcard Sale, Westergasfabriek, Amsterdam

Parklicht, Stichting Polderlicht, Oosterpark, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

1000 Miles an Hour, Vinyl Factory, London, UK

EXPO Chicago, Ronchini Gallery, Chicago, USA

Good Shed, Perth, Australia De Groen Collection, Arnhem, The Netherlands

Dismantled Ruben, Ronchini Gallery, London,

2016  Ranking-the-Arts-Winner, NP3, Groningen, The Netherlands

Spazio 22, Milan, Italy

2015  Art Brussels, Ronchini Gallery, Brussel

A Climate Fictionalism, Hong-Gah Museum, Taipei

2014 Antipode, Ronchini Gallery, London UK

Cosmos, 21st Century Minsheng Museum, Shanghai

2013 The Uncanny, Ronchini Gallery, London

Kammerspiele, Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht

2012 Platform 57, The Hague