Bob Bonies

Dutch, 1937

The visual language of Bonies suggests concepts of clarity and legibility. His iconic design meanders its way along the lines of De Stijl and Russian Constructivism. Like his international counterparts in the 1960s, Bonies, too, sought a more radical approach in the realization of pictorial quality. The intuitive thought and weight of the historic avant-garde made way for a systematic order based on a process of reduction to a formal limit. In the Netherlands, his pursuit was groundbreaking.

Bonies has created an oeuvre that is sleek, tough and concrete. Drawing on influences from The United States, he uses large format canvases; a visual medium that perfectly matches his research and advocacy towards a concrete reality.

In order to realize his ideas, Bonies maintains an extremely consistent approach based on a system of limitations. Since 1965, Bonies has chosen to work with the primary colors, plus green and white. He has also worked with the same paint manufacturer, the same cotton and same application of color; each applied in four layers. A well contemplated system, limited to rectangles, squares and circles is first drawn as a sketch on grid paper and then magnified on a small format canvas as a prototype. Finally, the image is realized using the predetermined system.

Through rotation, tilting, doubling or shifting, Bonies’ unique system moves beyond the limits of the classical square dimensions of a canvas. Instead the system creates and utilizes shaped canvases as a means to achieve concrete structure.

Anyone who thinks that the application of systematically worked out patterns leads to boring, predictable images is wrong. It is the power of Bonies to create a visual sensation that goes beyond the painted laws to make the immaterial presence of that which is not painted, tangible. You come to realize that this concrete art is of great visual richness and mobility that extends beyond the realm of painting and also touches on architecture, music and design. This all emerges with a clarity that according to Rudi Fuchs; "Cannot be described with a pen."

Download CV (updated 6-2019)

Bob Bonies, untitled, 2013

Bob Bonies, untitled, 2013

acrylic on canvas, three canvases
180 x 180 cm

Available artworks

Bob Bonies, untitled, 2012

Bob Bonies, untitled, 2012

Bob Bonies, untitled, 2019

Bob Bonies, untitled, 2019

acrylic on canvas, two canvases
224 x 269 cm
Bob Bonies, untitled, 2016

Bob Bonies, untitled, 2016

acrylic on canvas, two canvases
200 x 150 cm
Bob Bonies, untitled, 2013

Bob Bonies, untitled, 2013

acrylic on canvas, three canvases
180 x 180 cm
Bob Bonies, untitled, 2012

Bob Bonies, untitled, 2012

Acrylic on canvas
170 x 170 cm
Bob Bonies, untitled, 2012

Bob Bonies, untitled, 2012

acrylic on canvas, two canvases
200 x 150 cm
Bob Bonies, untitled, 2004

Bob Bonies, untitled, 2004

acrylic on canvas, two canvases
210 x 218 cm

Exhibitions:
Bob Bonies, solo exhibition, September - October 1981 at the Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven
Bob Bonies, untitled, 1985

Bob Bonies, untitled, 1985

acrylic on canvas, four canvases
240 x 240 cm
Bob Bonies, untitled, 1976

Bob Bonies, untitled, 1976

acrylic on canvas, two canvases
212 x 283 cm
Bob Bonies, untitled, 1975

Bob Bonies, untitled, 1975

acrylic on canvas, three canvases
210 x 210 cm
Bob Bonies, untitled, 1970

Bob Bonies, untitled, 1970

signed and dated on the reverse
acrylic on canvas
141.5 x 141.5 cm
Bob Bonies, untitled, 1969

Bob Bonies, untitled, 1969

acrylic on canvas
198 x 198 cm
Bob Bonies, untitled, 1969

Bob Bonies, untitled, 1969

acrylic on canvas
198 x 198 cm
Bob Bonies, untitled, 1969

Bob Bonies, untitled, 1969

acrylic on canvas, two canvases
210 x 150 cm

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