PrintedPlant

POP-UP EXHIBITION

DECEMBER 1 - DECEMBER 5  2021

About forty works on different formats will be on show and for sale during the exhibition. The perfect gift for the holiday season!

PrintedPlant®: art prints by (fashion) designer Ger-Jan de Gilde

Ger-Jan de Gilde makes botanical relief prints in small editions. The artist who strives for control and perfection in his fashion designs allows chance in his free work. The manual nature of the manufacturing process always produces unique works in distinct colour combinations.

How it started

After living in Amsterdam for many years, De Gilde moved in 2002 to the countryside just outside the city. Suddenly there is light, air and space. Nature turns out to be a great source of inspiration and he starts photographing. A nice contrast to the busy life as a fashion designer in which he travels a lot to metropolises London, Paris and Hong Kong.

From photo to digital drawing to woodcut relief print

His photography style develops rapidly, inspired by the play of sunlight and clear skies in particular. Nature becomes portrayed in a reasonably abstract way, always looking for tension and contrast. In 2009 De Gilde will release two photo books: "Nature Structure" and "Outside", followed in 2017 by "Illuminate". With the arrival of the iPad and iPencil it becomes possible to draw nature on a tablet; suddenly a simple iPencil scribble gives a watercolor brush stroke or a line with grainy wax crayons. De Gilde translates its photos into digital drawings, of which two books will be published in 2018: "Flora" and "More Flora". The creative process continues. De Gilde starts developing stamps based on his photographed and digitally drawn plants. These stamps lasered from wood make it possible to print works, to reproduce images in a completely unique way. The effect of hand printing gives an unpredictable character to every print.

The art prints

The art prints are printed on 220 grams Clairfontaine grained paper. The prints, which often reinforce each other in pairs, are signed with the Latin plant name, edition number, year and maker's signature. Editions are never larger than 15 pieces.

About the artist

Ger-Jan de Gilde graduated in from the prestigious academy of visual arts ABK in Arnhem, the Netherlands, in the fashion design department. He then worked as a fashion designer at well-known Dutch fashion brands including Soap Studio, Stills and Turnover and in recent years as Head of Design for Claudia Sträter. Between 1996 and 1998 he also taught in addition to his design work final exam candidates for fashion at "his own fashion department" in Arnhem. De Gilde lives and works in De Kwakel, near Amsterdam, The Netherlands.