Museum Rijswijk Reopens

Splendid Isolation

5 June - 15 August 2021

Museum Rijswijk, Rijswijk, the Netherlands

After a long period behind closed doors the 5th June see’s Ian Berry ‘Splendid Isolation’ Exhibition at Museum Rijswijk in Holland reopen. It will be then be prolonged until 15 August 2021. To mark the opening Mixed Grill put it in its Top 11 Shows to see in Holland and FD marked it as a ‘Must See’ as galleries now reopen across the Netherlands.

It was also on TV West Nieuws in the Zuid-Holland Noord region, where curator Diana Wind guides around the show and talks about Ian' Berry’s work with only denim jeans. (all in Dutch)

As well as other platforms on the Omroep West platform.

Ian Berry Splendid Isolation at Museum Rijswijk by Omroep West

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Get your tickets now to see Ian Berry’s art in denim at Museum Rijswijk until 15 August.

Ian Berry | Splendid Isolation | The Book

Museum Rijswijk | Jap Sam Publishing 

£23.00

Ian Berry’s new book, SPLENDID ISOLATION is out now and available to order online on ianberry.art - The book is a collaboration with publisher Jap Sam Books in The Netherlands with the Museum Rijswijk to coincide with the Solo Museum show of the same name.

It includes

· a forward by both Museum Rijswijk curator Diana Wind and Director Arnoud van Aalst

· 160 page paperback book

· Over 150 images in full colour (well, full of blue)

· Looks over some of his 15 years of making his artwork using only denim jeans

· Many images show detail shots of his work that have to be seen to be believed.

· Includes work from 2020 fully updated with Hotel California, the #iclapfor project and Stay Behind Closed Doors photo project as well as all the installations from around the world.

A page from the Splendid Isolation book showing Hotel California

The book was launched at the 2020 Virtual Art Book Fair (VABF) organized by Tokyo Art Book Fair (TABF) with Jap Sam. The fair was originally scheduled for Fall 2020 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo. It then debuted at the Museum shop at Museum Rijswijk and was popular with visitors. You can now get it here, online.

The book comes signed by the artist Ian Berry and you can also request a message to be sent. We can post around the world with the postages below, including a special launch offer.

Postage

· £2.50 to the UK (Free pre Christmas with FREESHIPPING code at check out)

· £8 within Europe (Half price with EUSHIPPING code) and to the rest of the world and £10.00 to the rest of the world (half price with HALFWORLD at check out) pre Christmas

About

Ian Berry has emerged as an exciting young British artist over the last decade. He has been making virtuous figurative paintings and installations of denim for over 15 years. He uses discarded jeans, cuts them up into pieces and sorts according to hue like a painter places his colour nuances to his palette. At first glance the work seems two-dimensional, but when you zoom in, you can see how different layers of denim are placed on top and over each other. The ‘paintings’ are in fact denim collages so perfectly put together. They are almost impossible to distinguish from a realistic painting. Ian Berry also makes three-dimensional denim installations, which have been on display on multiple continents and at museums.

Ian Berry is a socially committed artist. With his work he responds to topical developments in society. His work is made of denim not only because he likes the material, it is as well because the textile industry is one of the most polluting industries. In his work he asks attention for this. In 2019, Ian Berry was proclaimed one of the 50 most influential people in the denim industry in the world and had been named a top artist un 30 in the world in 2013.

This eponymous publication accompanies the first solo-exhibition of Berry in the Netherlands. Ian Berry | Splendid Isolation, Museum Rijswijk, November 29, 2020 – April 5, 2021.

Illustrated with numerous images that aim to convey the depth and texture of Berry’s work, which explores our urban environment and examines community issues, or the lack thereof. With this everyday material he portrays contemporary life, and for him there is no better medium to depict it than the material of our time, denim jeans.

Ian Berry (1984, Huddersfield UK) is based in East London. He is internationally known for his works made out of only pairs of jeans.

A spread from the book, Ian Berry, Splendid Isolation.

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ISBN

978-94-92852-30-4

Graphic designer

Tim Ho @duotone.hk

Number of pages

160

Book size

24 x 24 cm

Binding

Paperback

Date of Release

29 November 2020

Language

English and Dutch

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Ian and Elliott Berry’s #iclapfor is feature in the new book Splendid Isolation

With Thanks

Along with Museum Rijswijk and Jap Sam Books the book was made possible by the museum show principle sponsor Pepe Jeans London, along with Tencel, Famore Cutlery, Cone Denim and Tonello.

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ABOUT Jap Sam Books, headed by Eleonoor Jap Sam, is an independent international publishing house based in the south of the Netherlands. Our publishing house publishes titles that explore developments in architecture, art, philosophy, design, photography and theory as well as the fields that touch them, such as urbanism, landscape, sociology and history. Jap Sam Books has been established to reflect, connect and respond to developments in these fields, by bringing out a range of critical and reflective books for an international audience. We believe in a multidisciplinary approach and cross-border thinking.The books that we publish are not only educational and inspirational, but also very beautifully designed, and all produced in close collaboration with our contributors.

Ian Berry. Splendid Isolation. Museum Rijswijk, The Netherlands

Ian Berry. Splendid Isolation

Paintings and installations made of denim

December 2, 2020 - April 4, 2021

British artist Ian Berry (Huddersfield, 1984) has been creating virtuoso figurative paintings and installations from denim for over 15 years. He uses old and discarded jeans, which he cuts into pieces and sorts them according to colour, in the same way that a painter juxtaposes the successive shades of a colour. At first glance the work seems two-dimensional, but up close, you can see how the different layers of denim are placed on top of and over each other. The paintings are collages of denim that are so perfectly put together that it is almost indistinguishable from a realistic painting.Ian Berry also makes three-dimensional installations of denim such as the work Secret Garden (2018) and Record Store (2017), which have already been shown at museums on different continents.

Ian Berry. Splendid Isolation is the artist's first solo exhibition in the Netherlands. There is a generous choice to see from the different series he has made over the past 15 years, such as Behind Closed Doors, Hotel California and The American Jean. Record Store, a complete record store made of denim, will also be on display but displayed within a home scene reflecting the year.

Ian Berry is a socially engaged artist. His work responds to recent developments in society. His work is not only made of denim because he likes the material, but can be linked to jeans being one of the most polluting as part of textile industry and his recycling draws attention. Ian Berry was named one of the 50 most influential people in the denim industry in 2019 and a top 30 artist under 30 by Art Business News. 

The Corona pandemic is an important topic in his most recent work. His clapping project is an animated denim projection of clapping hands to thank the medical sector for their commitment to Covid-19 and to all people for coping with the lockdown. This project has been projected onto buildings throughout Great Britain, Ireland and over a dozen other countries including the United States. The animation is also part of the exhibition in Museum Rijswijk where you can see a small documentary of the journey and story.

Following the lockdown in Great Britain, Ian Berry started the Behind Closed Doors photo project through his website. He has called on professionals and amateursphotographers to make a photo about what the lockdown means to them personally. A selection of the photos will be included in print or projected in the exhibition.

A catalogue will accompany the exhibition, which is available in the Museum Shop.

For more information, please contact Diana Wind, curator of contemporary art, dianawind(at)museumrijswijk.nl, telephone +31(0)630388366.

Museum Rijswijk Herenstraat 67, 2282 BR Rijswijk, Netherlands

Ian Berry. Splendid Isolation

Schilderijen en installaties gemaakt van denim

29 november 2020 – 4 april 2021

De Britse kunstenaar Ian Berry (Huddersfield, 1984) maakt al ruim 15 jaar virtuoze figuratieve schilderijen en installaties van denim. Hij gebruikt oude en afgedankte spijkerbroeken die hij in stukjes knipt en op kleurschakering sorteert zoals een schilder de opeenvolgende tinten van een kleur verf naast elkaar plaatst. In eerste instantie lijkt het werk tweedimensionaal, maar wanneer je er dicht bij staat, is te zien hoe de verschillende lagen denim op en over elkaar heen zijn geplaatst. De schilderijen zijn collages van denim die zo perfect in elkaar gezet zijn dat het bijna niet te onderscheiden is van een realistisch schilderij. 

Ian Berry maakt ook driedimensionale installaties van denim zoals het werk Secret Garden (2018) en Record Store(2017) die al op verschillende continenten bij musea te zien zijn geweest. 

Ian Berry. Splendid Isolation is de eerste solotentoonstelling van de kunstenaar in Nederland. Er is een royale keuze te zien uit de verschillende series die hij in de afgelopen 15 jaar heeft gemaakt zoals, Behind Closed Doors, Hotel California en The American Jean. Ook zullen verschillende installaties te zien zijn. 

Ian Berry is een maatschappelijk geëngageerd kunstenaar. Hij speelt met zijn werk in op recente ontwikkelingen in de maatschappij. Zijn werk is niet alleen van denim gemaakt omdat het materiaal hem aan staat, maar ook omdat de textielindustrie een van de meest vervuilende industrieën is. Met zijn werk vraagt hij daar aandacht voor. Ian Berry is in 2019 uitgeroepen tot een van de 50 meest invloedrijke mensen op het gebied van de denimindustrie. 

De Corona pandemie is een belangrijk onderwerp in zijn meest recente werk. Het project clapping is een geanimeerde denimprojectie van klappende handen om de medische sector te bedanken voor hun inzet tegen Covid-19. Dit project is door heel Groot-Brittannië en in de Verenigde Staten geprojecteerd op gebouwen. De animatie maakt ook deel uit van de tentoonstelling in Museum Rijswijk. 

Naar aanleiding van de lockdown in Groot-Brittannië is Ian Berry het internationale fotoproject Behind Closed Doorsgestart via zijn website. Hij heeft professionals en amateurs opgeroepen een foto in te sturen die laat zien wat de lockdown voor hen betekent. Een selectie van de foto’s zal in print of geprojecteerd opgenomen worden in de tentoonstelling. 

Bij de tentoonstelling verschijnt een catalogus die in de Museumwinkel is te verkrijgen. 

Voor meer informatie kunt u contact opnemen met Diana Wind, curator hedendaagse kunst, dianawind (at) museumrijswijk.nl, telefoon 0630388366. 

Have your isolation photograph displayed in a museum

…And perhaps even turned to denim.

Ian Berry has been making isolation images in denim for years. Blue, 2012

Ian Berry may have captured the world’s press imagination for years with his medium, denim, but of course the other consistent theme in his work has been isolation. And now he is wanting to see your isolation shots Behind your Closed Doors that could show in a museum.

The months prior to lockdown Ian had been planning photoshoots in some well known people’s homes, as his work is based on photos. The week of shoots was the first week of lockdown. Not ideal with two years of museum shows upcoming.

Compared to what is going on, he knows it’s not the worst thing but he did have a problem to find a solution for.

Ian became a professional artist after losing his job as an Art Director in the last financial crisis. The museum shows were going to look over this period of work (loaned back from clients) and he was complimenting it with new work that continued these themes.

Now we all find ourselves in isolation.

Some of Ians work on isolation in Behind Closed Doors.

Speaking with friends he soon realised many were photographers stuck, but safe, in their own homes. They volunteered to take photos, many were sent but Ian’s work is time consuming, he couldn’t do them all. He had also realised he was isolated in his own home and studio, with a camera.

‘It’s at times like this you realise what is in front of you and what you have. I had been planning on going to other peoples homes as well as returning to LA to shoot, ignoring what was in front of my eyes.’ Ian Berry

Your isolation images to show in Museum Rijswijk Holland

With seeing many great photos and knowing many photographers had lost work, like him, during this period he spoke with the Museum’s Curator Diana Wind where he will have a solo show later in the year and they decided they should show some at the Museum by The Hague in The Netherlands. Ian will then have further shows in Germany, Sweden and Yorkshire UK with more to announce.

‘Photographers and the public should be, and will be, documenting this period and their experience of this, so we invite them to submit their photographs during this period that will be chosen by the curator of the Museum Rijswijk Diana Wind and myself, and then displayed alongside my show but in a dedicated gallery.’

The work need not be as melancholic as Ian’s scenes, nor isolation alone, it can be a family playing a game, a couple both working from home or many on a zoom meeting, it is your experience. If Ian does see one that he can see in denim, he will have that conversation but the main purpose is to see your photographs and display them like that.

Submissions should be sent to mail@ianberry.art titled Stay Behind Closed Doors

You can find out more about submissions here and also follow the instagram page

You can see some of the early submissions above and also here.

Ian Berry in Isolation

Ian Berry is isolating in his East London studio beside the Limehouse Cut Canal and with his 2 to 3,000 pairs of jeans. Prior to lockdown Kasper Daugaard visited and filmed a VR in Ian’s studio and you can have a look at Ian’s studio where he is now working away.

And just days before the lockdown Debbie Bragg shot in Ian Berry’s studio and workplace.