Kees van Leeuwen

This exhibition features works by artist Kees van Leeuwen. His work exists at the intersection of art and architecture and is the result of his exploration of the meaning of "space."

Kees van Leeuwen often experiences space differently than most people. He visualizes it three-dimensionally and experiences the space beyond space. Kees shared this fascination as a child and originally wanted to become an architect. However, his severe dyslexia prevented this. At the Gerrit Rietveld Academy and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, he was given the freedom to discover the language and tools that best suited him to express his thoughts.
His stay in Japan and his introduction to Japanese culture further shaped this exploration of the meaning of "space." These include the Japanese concept of space and "MA": the void between spaces created by the placement of objects, the multiple functions of a space, and the dimensions of Japanese tatami mats.

This experience and his hypersensitivity to stimuli shaped his fascination with spaces isolated from the outside world, such as museum galleries and (nuclear) bunkers. In addition to large-format photographs of the alien world inside nuclear bunkers, the exhibitions also feature paper models created using a Japanese technique of spatial representation. The two-dimensional drawing thus becomes a three-dimensional model. With his works, Kees van Leeuwen makes his way of seeing visible to the outside world.