Elsemarijn Bruys
Elsemarijn Bruys (b. 1989, NL) is a visual artist with a strong curiosity for sensory perception. In her hybrid practice, she alternates between making sculptures and architectural interventions, but the spatial experience is always her starting point.
Her background in fashion has greatly influenced her sculptural work. For example, her series Puff (2019 – now) is a sculptural reference to the archetypal puffer jacket, the garment that possesses the quality of being class-transcending and is embraced by just about every social group. Bruys' puffs are fleshy and permanently under tension. They are so high-gloss that the viewer sees themselves reflected in them, although completely stretched and distorted. This duality, between lighthearted and uncomfortable, between attractive and repulsive, is an important motif in her work.
Air is the main medium Bruys works with. She takes the material so seriously that she considers it her collaborator. Within her work, air has the freedom to take its course: rectangles become round, spaces are filled and occupied, objects breathe in and out, visitors are subtly flattened and perspectives become deformed. The addition of air makes her objects performative, and the change of form (morph) it brings about is simultaneously the core of her work.
Current show: Stedelijk Museum Schiedam: Minimal Art on Acid en abstracte kunst van vrouwen, toen en nu.
Her work has been shown at NEST Ruimte, Van Eesteren Museum, Kunsthal KAdE, Art Rotterdam, Down The Rabbit Hole, Torrance Art Museum and the Van Gogh Museum, among others.
EDUCATION
2009 - 2013 HKU, Fashion Design, Utrecht
2005 - 2009 Nimeto, RPC, Utrecht
PROJECTS
2021 - Present Idiotbox.online, videoart platform, Founder/Co-curator
2019 - Present Hectobar.nl, Founder/Organizer
2018 - 2021 Amber Solo Gallery, Founder/Organizer
2016 - Present A/V Club, Founder/Organizer
EXHIBITIONS
2025 BKS, large scale installation - Tilburg (forthcoming)
2025 willem II large scale installation - Den Bosch (forthcoming)
2025 Rosewood hotel, limited edition - Amsterdam
2024 DTRH - Inflatable installation - Nijmegen
2024 ART Central, group show - Rotterdam
2024 Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, solo exhibition - Schiedam
2024 Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, group show - Schiedam
2024 NEST - Duo show with lomo doom - The Hague
2024 BKS, large scale installation - Tilburg
2023 NDSM, group show - Amsterdam
2023 De School Amsterdam, Solo show - Amsterdam
2023 ADE Felix Meritus installation - Amsterdam
2023 Museum JAN, group show - Amstelveen
2023 UNFAIR - Amsterdam
2023 Radboud Uni, Installation (commissioned) - Nijmegen
2023 Monopol Berlin, group show - Berlijn
2023 Himmel unter Berlin, group show - Berlijn
2023 MOMO - installation at MOMO - R’dam
2022 Schemerlicht festival - Nijmegen
2022 Contour Gallery, Solo exhibition - R’dam
2022 Big Art - Contour Gallery, solo show - Amsterdam
2022 Art Amsterdam - Contour Gallery, solo show - A’dam
2021 This Art Fair, solo show - Amsterdam
2021 De Achtertuin during Art Rotterdam, group show, Rotterdam
2020 Hectobar 8.0, Punch, Amsterdam
2020 Not for profit art party, Worm x Almondestraat, Rotterdam
2020 ‘A show in a gallery’, Patty Morgan, Amsterdam (solo)
2020 PUFFS x Phoney Club, Rotterßdam (solo)
2019 Hectobar 3.0, Neck of the Woods, Rotterdam
2019 Amster Solo collective, Torrence art museum, L.A. (group show)
2019 Opening night, De groene, Arnhem
2019 ‘Presure’ Van Eesteren Museum x Museum N8, Amsterdam
2019 Stedelijk Amsterdam x TNO, Museum N8, Amsterdam
2018 Blauwdruk, Kunsthal KAdE, Amersfoort (group show)
2017 GAZE Interactive art-installation, DTRH festival
2017 Vincent op vrijdag, Van Gogh museum, Amsterdam
2017 WOW Open Air Festival, Amsterdam (group show)
2017 Bcademie x Galerie KERS, Amsterdam (group show)
2017 LAST SHOW BCADEMY, Worm, Rotterdam
2017 This Art Fair, Amsterdam, (duo show)
2016 Athene, Bcademie, Athene (group show)
2016 The First Show, Bcademie, Rotterdam (group show)
2016 Platform Platvorm, Melkweg, Amsterdam (group show)
2016 Blauwdruk, Kunsthal KAde, Amersfoort, (group show)
2016 Anoniem Radio kunstwerk, Mister Motley, Amsterdam
2015 (M)EAT ME, Video project with Debbie Simons, Amsterdam
SET/ ART DESIGN
2024 R.A.V.E. Colab with Boris Acket
2024 AFRO JACK costume design for visuals
2022 Wandler 5 year Anniversairy - costum installation
2022 Drift, costum installation, ism Boris Acket
2020 Mu’ URLAND, graphic motiondesign
2020 Erker Opera Dagen Rotterdam, spatial design
2020 Landverhuizers, Orkater, costum & set
2020 Het Verhaal van Anders, Aya danstheater, costum & set
2020 A/V CLUB x wildeburg, spatial design & programming
2020 Slopera, Opera Dagen Rotterdam, costum
2019 Foyer, Opera Dagen Rotterdam, spatial design
2019 Opera is Dood, CLUB GEWALT, costum en set
2019 Libi, Korzo theater, costum
2019 ‘His story is history’, NEST, video instalation
2019 De week van Eros, Mister Motley, grafic identity
2018 Wildeburg festival, stage design.
2018 URLAND, press photo x 3d scan
2017 ‘Place of Ruin’, NEST TV direction and animation
2017 CRASK JOHAN video clip, art direction
2017 ADE festival/ITW, stage design
2016 Video Cousin, concept and art direction
2016 Where the worst things are for WTWTA festival, art direction
2016 URLAND, Internet trilogie |||, Set design
2016 Grrrrroente, costume design, Tweetakt Utrecht
2016 ZEST, Volkshotel Amsterdam, costum design
2016 CLUB CLUB GEWALT, Club Gewalt, set- and costum design
2016 Kirimioqi, Videoart
2016 NIEUW JURK, Big in Japan for Mister Motley, editorial
2015 KIM FAN video project, direction/animation
2015 Cereal, short movie for Scott Franka (UK), art direction
RECIDENCY
2020 Patty morgan, Amsterdam
2017 Project 24h, WORM, Rotterdam
COLLECTIONS/CLIENTS
Rosewood Hotel , Stedelijk Museum Schiedam , J.Coenen, Axola Art , The Artalist