Nul
Armando, Jan Henderikse, Henk Peeters and Jan Schoonhoven are normally considered the most important members of the Nul group. Herman de Vries is not usually listed as a member. De Vries does not join in exhibitions with the members of the Dutch Informal Group, but he develops an informal style of painting during more or less the same period, and in 1958 he starts to make white collages and canvasses. At the time he is employed at the Institute for Biological Field Research in Arnhem, and he develops his first ‘Nul’ works in his free time, using materials from the post room, the lab and his own home.(1) Inspired by texts on Zen Buddhism, De Vries creates a void in his work.(2) During this period De Vries meets Henk Peeters, who lives in Arnhem; Peeters regularly includes him in the exhibitions he organizes in the Netherlands and abroad.
De Vries founds the publication revue nul = 0 with Armando and Peeters, and they all serve as editors. In 1962 De Vries takes part in the ‘Nul’ exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, where he shows white sculptures in the form of beams, blocks and cylinders in the same room with the other members of Nul. The second issue of revue nul = 0 was followed by a break with Peeters in 1964, due to a difference of opinion. De Vries wants to continue with the publication on his own, upon which Peeters hires an attorney. Peeters subsequently excludes De Vries from participating in the exhibition ‘Nul65’. De Vries shows the work he had intended for this exhibition in the exhibition ‘Atelier 2’, held in the same year at the Stedelijk Museum.(3) In the years that follow, he does take part, mainly at the invitation of the German artists, in national and international ZERO exhibitions. In his own view, De Vries always remains true to the principles of Nul.(4)
Published by the Stedelijk Museum Schiedam and NAi Publishers, Schiedam, 2011
De Vries founds the publication revue nul = 0 with Armando and Peeters, and they all serve as editors. In 1962 De Vries takes part in the ‘Nul’ exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, where he shows white sculptures in the form of beams, blocks and cylinders in the same room with the other members of Nul. The second issue of revue nul = 0 was followed by a break with Peeters in 1964, due to a difference of opinion. De Vries wants to continue with the publication on his own, upon which Peeters hires an attorney. Peeters subsequently excludes De Vries from participating in the exhibition ‘Nul65’. De Vries shows the work he had intended for this exhibition in the exhibition ‘Atelier 2’, held in the same year at the Stedelijk Museum.(3) In the years that follow, he does take part, mainly at the invitation of the German artists, in national and international ZERO exhibitions. In his own view, De Vries always remains true to the principles of Nul.(4)
Published by the Stedelijk Museum Schiedam and NAi Publishers, Schiedam, 2011
- See also Cees de Boer, herman de vries. oeuvreprijs 1998, beeldende kunst (Amsterdam, 1998).
- Ibid., 18.
- ‘Nul65’ took place from 15 April to 7 June 1965. The exhibition ‘Atelier 2’ took place in Sep- tember. This included work by Jan Henderikse, who had also not taken part in ‘Nul65’.
- De Vries, interview with Colin Huizing and Tijs Visser, 12 May 2011, Eschenau, Germany.
