Bas van Raay | Artist

Photo by Chloë van der Smitte

“Yes I confess, I go to hardware stores for pleasure. Hardware stores are my church, they make me feel connected. These are the places where I do my weekly explorations and dive for pearls, standardized industrially manufactured objects, available to all of us. Somehow, tools and building materials make me feel human. And then the fun really begins, my mind starts to rebel and step away from everything considered normal. I take these mass products out of their context and craft them into new contexts. That’s the beauty of a new context I guess, it comes with discomfort but it also gives headspace.” Bas van Raay

Short bio

Bas van Raay (1981) is a conceptual artist based in Eindhoven, Netherlands. He received his Bachelor of Arts at the Design Academy in Eindhoven (2007), and his Master of Arts in Philosophy at Tilburg University (2020). He draws his inspiration from artist like Marcel Duchamp, Joseph Kosuth and Joseph Beuys.

Between 2009 and 2012, Bas van Raay collaborated with Karena Schuessler gallery in Berlin. This collaboration resulted in a successful solo exhibition in 2011 and his work was represented at ART BASEL 2011.

Since 2012 he has been lecturing at the Design academy Eindhoven, Artemis academy Amsterdam and now has a permanent position as a lecturer in trends and futures research at Fontys University of Applied Sciences.

Since 2022 Bas started a new collaboration with Cova Gallery in Eindhoven with a solo exhibition planned for October 2023.

Quotes

“Conceptualism denies any universal objects. Bas van Raay creates these conceptual objects. The Eindhoven-based designer launched his new work, three industrially sculptured objects, which evoke questions: just because it isn’t what it seems to be.” (Matylda Krzykowski, 2009)

“Bas van Raay works in what he calls “the grey zone between art and design”. A graduate of Eindhoven’s famous Design Academy, he completed his training in Japan at the K&H Architects’office. As he sees it, an object cannot be separated from what is exudes and transmits. In the case of his coffee machine, fitted with an aroma balloon, that means light, heat and aromas. While it certainly does not neglect notions of convienence and well being, his work is highly conceptual and philosophical. He answers the question ‘what is a piece of furniture?’, with a series of strange objects and structures that tend to erase the frontiers between machine, sculpture and furniture.” (David Rosenberg, 2012)

FUNDINGS

2023: The project ‘At spirit level’ was made possible by Stichting Cultuur Eindhoven.