Exhibition
Bouke de Vries 'Fragments of Memory' Opening
17 Jan 2022 – 17 Feb 2022
Regular hours
- Monday
- 09:00 – 19:00
- Tuesday
- 09:00 – 19:00
- Wednesday
- 09:00 – 19:00
- Thursday
- 09:00 – 19:00
- Friday
- 09:00 – 19:00
- Saturday
- 09:00 – 19:00
- Sunday
- 09:00 – 19:00
UCL Japanese Garden
Address
- 27-28 Gordon Square
- London
England - WC1H 0AH
- United Kingdom
UCL Public Art programme opens 'Fragments of Memory', a sculpture by Bouke de Vries reflecting resilience, the beauty of healing, and UCL’s rich history with Japan and the Chōshū Five
About
Two years after the pandemic tore around the globe, artist Bouke de Vries unveils a monumental new public artwork in London celebrating the beauty of healing. Titled 'Fragments of Memory', the new permanent sculpture sits in the UCL Japanese Garden in Bloomsbury, a powerful statement of the beauty of overcoming trauma and owning one's scars, and a testament to the power of resilience.
The sculpture's form is drawn from an original fractured 17th century Arita soy bottle, reflecting on the political, geographical and social fragmentation of Japan's later history, as well as offering echoes of contemporary global turbulence. The work also subtly represents the geography of Japan; on close inspection, the viewer can see the outline of Japan's islands traced in the fracture lines of the work.
Bouke de Vries' practice questions the reverence of perfection, seeking instead to venerate the whole narrative of an object's life and craft, encompassing the trauma as well as the resilience. 'Fragments of Memory' reflects this philosophy, presenting a work that celebrates vulnerability and fragility as much as aesthetic beauty.
UCL's pioneering Public Art programme, which commissioned 'Fragments of Memory', provides seed funding to artists to explore their practice in collaboration with UCL's world-class academics, without constraints or stipulations. The programme also incorporates commissions from renowned artists for the university's public and social spaces, including recent artworks from Rachel Whiteread and Thomson & Craighead, as well as experimental socially engaged art programmes such as the Trellis Programme at UCL East – UCL’s new campus on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.