Until Sunday 10 March 2019, the Mondrian House is showing several works by Herman Coppus with 'Reflection'. His paper reliefs and sculptures in glass and bronze are on display in two rooms of the museum.
Much of the work of Herman Coppus (Horst, 1955) consists of geometric shapes that repeat themselves into a pattern in a square or rectangle. The rigid shapes may look unambiguous to the hurried viewer, but those who take a longer look at his paper reliefs see an ingenious and ever-changing play of form and light. Although Coppus limits his use of colour to primary colours and black and white, his works reveal a surprisingly rich palette of ever-changing hues through reflection and shading from different viewpoints. In his work, Coppus is mainly inspired by last century's constructivism. In it, he has managed to develop a completely individual visual language with a distinct attention to colour, rhythm and lighting effects.
Late bloomer
As an artist, you could call Coppus a late bloomer. He has been making autonomous work for over 20 years, but only since the last four or five years has he been actively showing it to the outside world. After several exhibitions at galleries and art events, the exhibition at the Mondriaanhuis is in his first museum presentation in the Netherlands.
Coppus trained at the Maastricht City Academy, now the Maastricht Academy of Fine Arts. This was followed by a career as a teacher of visual arts and art history. Since the late 1990s, Coppus has combined teaching with being an artist.
Angelic patience
Coppus lives and works in Ravenstein, the picturesque fortified town on the Meuse in North Brabant. In the atmospheric historic building in which Mr and Mrs Coppus live, the artist's working table stands in the middle of the living room. At this table, surrounded by his own artworks, he works daily on his reliefs. With angelic patience and a precision bordering on perfectionism, Coppus cuts there the cubes or other shapes needed for the pattern he is currently working on.
Glass
Herman Coppus works not only with paper, but also with other materials such as bronze and glass. His glass sculptures mostly consist of strips of recycled glass, which he stacks to form monumental, transparent forms in space. The glass strips lie loose on top of each other; only the top strips are fixed with glue. Coppus does not title his reliefs or sculptures. This may have something to do with the fact that the artist does not like to theorise about his work. That quickly becomes so pretentious, he thinks. Coppus is certainly not pretentious, but he is a very driven artist. His work ethic is great and his production high; almost every week he produces a new work. While making a relief, new ideas for the next work often arise. There is hardly any leftover material: a new work is regularly created from fragments of a previously made relief.
Reflection - Herman Coppus can be seen from 3 November 2018 to 10 March 2019
Meet & greet with Herman Coppus
Those who want to know more about the working method and the idea behind it can ask the artist himself. Retrieved from Sunday 27 January and Thursday 28 February Herman Coppus will be at the Mondrian House from 13.30 to 15.30 during a meet & greet.
'Reflection' in the media
Broadcaster Walraven (TV broadcast 'Herman Coppus exhibits in Mondrian House Amersfoort', 18-1-2019)
Artist Magazine (No 77, 28-12-2018)