FRÉ ILGEN BIO

b. 1956

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Through a combination of geometry and gesture, the Dutch-born Ilgen in both his sculptures and paintings has pursued his own idiosyncratic path. While his sculptures retain playful lines and forms, the ribbon-like bands of stainless steel and saturated colour unravel the openness and complex simulations of movement.

For Ilgen, inspiration comes from all that is within our realm. “Physics teaches us that in reality, everything around us consists of the interactions of streaming, swirling fields of energy. Just like the wind, these fields behave in complex and unpredictable ways, ensuring that all the phenomena around us are different.”

Ilgen has long been interested in the role that nature plays in art. He believes the development in art, science and philosophy to be more closely linked and related than is generally assumed. He understands the meaning of art to go well beyond a means of decoration, a fashionable commodity, or even to merely exemplify a culture within a certain time frame. While not denying these important features, Ilgen describes the universal desire for art – both the desire to create art and the desire to enjoy and appreciate art – to be a natural result of being human.

Ilgen continuously works in the studio on his artistic development while he is also often working on commissioned site-specific artworks. These range from particular projects for private houses, to monumental scale projects for corporate buildings and public spaces.

Since May 2012, new works on paper, canvas and new sculptures have emerged from the Ilgen studio, titled, "Battlefields of Eros and Thanatos." He travels and exhibits widely and regularly in Europe, the USA, and Asia.