More about Bart
Bart Eysink Smeets
28-01-1988 Haarlem
Lives and works in the Netherlands
Bart Eysink Smeets (born 1988) is a visual artist and filmmaker. In his work, Eysink Smeets attempts to magnify the absurdity of the everyday. A love of simple, unusual ideas is woven into all his art projects: for example, he placed a kitchen on the beach that was submerged at high tide, and his documentary "Bart and the Stone That Returned Home" was broadcast on NPO2 by VPRO, in which he brought a boulder back home after 200,000 years.
Educated by Design Academy Eindhoven (graduated in 2012), Bart had to make a slight detour into the field of autonomous visual art. Working at KesselsKramer (a communication agency known for its simple out-of-the-box concepts and the breeding ground for many artist such as Erik Kessels and Max Siedentopf) formed the link between design and art, and after Bart quit in 2018, he became the full-time artist he is now.
Commisioned permanent public art
2026: ‘Blind House’, Verbeke Foundation
2024: ‘Heg’ rotonde, Leeuwarden
2019: ‘Monument De steen die terug naar huis ging’, Borger
2018: ‘Picasso’, Amsterdam
Films
2023: Bart en de zoektocht naar de dubbelganger, VPRO 2Doc, NPO 2
2020: Bart en de steen die terug naar huis ging, VPRO 2Doc, NPO 2
Residencies
2021: VDHG, Leeuwarden
Patchwork, Watou (Belgium)
Awards
2023: Symbio Kunstprijs
2021: ‘Beste documentaire’ Noordelijk Film Festival voor ‘Bart en de steen die terug naar huis ging.’
Selection of exhibitions
2026: NDSM Amsterdam
Amsterdam Modern Art Museum
Van Onderuit Kunstfestival
Down the Rabbit Hole
Diep Emmen
2025: This Art Fair
Kaapstad Tilburg
Verbeke Foundation
2024: Oerol, NL
Bosch Parade, NL
2023: (Un)monumenting, NDSM, NL
BARTLAND, Gallery Vriend Van Bavink, NL
2022: Kunstenfestival Watou, BE
H47, Leeuwarden, NL
Public art route 'Biotoop, Amstelveen, NL
Buiten Land, Emmen, NL
Public Art route 'Art Borne', Oosterbeek, NL
2021: This Art Fair, Amsterdam
De Aanschouw, Rotterdam
2020: STEENLAND (solo), Patty Morgan, Amsterdam
Ongemakkelijk, Arti et Amicitea, Amsterdam
Teaching and Jury
2023: Jury VPRO Documentaireprijs
2021: Winterlab Artez Zwolle
2017 - 2019: Academie van bouwkunst
Funding
2022: Mondriaan Fonds, Projectbijdrage
2021: Mondriaan Fonds, Ontwikkelingsbijdrage
Publications/reviews (selection)
Een Uur Cultuur, Nooit meer slapen, Spijkers met Koppen, Khalid en Sophie, VRT Nieuws, Humberto, Kunst is Lang (Mister Motley Podcast), Foam Magazine, NRC, Parool, Volkskrant, Volkskrant Magazine, Radio 4 Opium, itsnicethat.com, mistermotley.nl, viceland.com
Education
2007- 2012:
Design Academy Eindhoven, Man and Living
2006 -2007:
Industrial Design, Technische Universiteit Delft
2005 -2006:
Transport Design University of Huddersfield
2000 -2005:
Stedelijk Gymnasium Haarlem
Contact