about Gijs Bakker
Gijs Bakker (Amersfoort, 1942) was trained as a jewellery and industrial-designer at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and the Konstfack Skolen in Stockholm, Sweden.
Bakker's designs cover jewellery, home accessories and household appliances, furniture, interiors, public spaces and exhibitions. He worked and works for numerous companies amongst wich: Polaroid, Artifort, HEMA, Royal VKB, and ENO Studio.
In 1993 he founded Droog Design together with design critic and historian Renny Ramakers, a Dutch collective of designers, products and information. Together with Ramakers, Bakker was the selector and art director of all products within Droog Design untill 2009.
Bakker also teaches for more than 40 years at different schools, amongst which the Delft University of Technology. After teaching at the Design Academy Eindhoven for more than 15 years, he is now head of the Master Programme.
Together with Italian gallery owner Marijke Vallanzasca Bakker founded the Chi ha paura...? (Italian for 'who is afraid of') foundation in 1996. With Chi ha paura...? (CHP...?) They wanted to show that a piece of jewellery is more than a decorative fashion accessory. With this CHP...? challenged the widespread fear for the contemporary jewellery.
Currently Bakker investigates the relation between craft and design in the Netherlands. Also abroad he's active regarding this issue by becoming creative director for Yii Taiwan in 2009. Commissioned by the Taiwanese Craft and Design council Yii was founded to create a stronger and sustainable coherence between local Taiwanese craft traditions and contemporary design practice in Taiwan. It is also intended to establish a more prolific design identity for Taiwan.
Gijs Bakker travels around the world to give workshops, lectures about his own work, CHP...? and Droog Design and is frequently a member in juries. His retrospective exhibition “Gijs Bakker and Jewelry” (with the accompanying monography) was on display in various museums around the world.
His work is represented in collections, both in museums and private worldwide.
Exhibitions (selected)
2010 Yii, Triennale Design Museum, Milan, Italy
2010 Roomservice Gallery, Barcelona, Spain
2009 Designers on Jewellery: Twelve years of jewellery production by Chi ha paura...? publication & travelling exhibition
2008 Real? exhibition at Gallerie Ra, Amsterdam & Gallery Deux Poissons, Tokyo
2007 Project “Rituals”, jewellery collection by Chi ha paura…?, together with SM’s ‘s-Hertogenbosch, presented in Milan, during International Furniture Fair.
2005 Retrospective exhibition ‘Gijs Bakker and Jewelry’, SM’s, Stedelijk Museum ’s-Hertogenbosch, ’s-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands
‘Shot’ and ‘Holysport’ Gallery Deux Poissons, Tokyo, Japan
2003 ‘Holysport’ and ‘I don’t wear jewels. I drive them’. Galeria Hipotesi, Barcelona, Spain
2001 ‘I don’t wear jewels, I drive them’. Galerie Ra, Amsterdam and KunstRai, Amsterdam, the Netherlands and Gallery Helen Drutt, Philadelphia, USA
1998 ‘Holysport / Shot’. Galerie Ra, Amsterdam and KunstRai, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
1995 ‘Shot-project’ (for the occasion of the Prins Bernhard Fonds Prijs). Galerie Ra, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
1993 ‘Gatenproject’ (‘Holes project’). Galerie Ra, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
1989 ‘Solo voor een solist’ (‘Solo for a soloist’). Retrospective exhibition, Centraal Museum, Utrecht, the Netherlands and Helen Drutt Gallery, New York, USA
1977 ‘Overzichtstentoonstelling Gijs Bakker, meubels en verlichting’ (‘Retrospective exhibition Gijs Bakker, furniture and lighting’) (together with Bob Bonies and Benno Premsela). Gemeentelijke Van Reekumgalerij, Apeldoorn, the Netherlands
1967 ‘Sculpture to wear by Emmy van Leersum and Gijs Bakker’. Ewan Philips Gallery, London, UK
Prizes
2011
Lifetime Achievement Award, Sanoma Living Awards
2007
Benno Premsela Award (for his work with Droog)
1996
Ra Award 1996
1995
Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds Prijs voor Toegepaste Kunsten
en Bouwkunst
1995
Nomination Rotterdam Design Price
1994
Nomination Rotterdam Design Price
1988
Françoise van den Bosch Price
1968
Gold en Silver Medal Jablonec
1965
2e Van den Rijn-price for sculptures
