bas pattyn
minimalist artist and designer
minimalist artist and designer
Bas Pattyn (1982) is a Belgian artist living and working between Ostend and Brussels.
He previously studied graphic design and furniture design. This influence is unmistakeable in his work as an artist, in which he organises chaotic reality into lines and planes as part of abstract geometric sculptures.
While his creations may at first appear two-dimensional to the viewer, they soon unfold in a subtle interplay with the third dimension through the artist’s use of folds, cut-outs and varying levels of depth. The works model light and shadow in different ways, partly due to their surface treatments. The combined effect is that the works appear to be constantly changing – especially in daylight.
Bas begins his process with a grid on which he plots lines. He prioritises form, researching and experimenting to produce countless variations. Once the two-dimensional sketch has been worked out, he translates it into the third dimension. By pushing or pulling specific points of the grid, he develops the idea for a three-dimensional sculpture. This idea is first given form through the use of cut and folded paper models. Only after this stage does he proceed to choose the material, which gives the sculpture its final character.
Bas works with a palette of aluminium, MDF and, recently, natural stone. The aluminium sheeting comes closest, both visually and technically, to the character of paper, while MDF reveals the artist’s affinity for furniture design. Both materials are provided with a distinct colour palette that the artist chooses intuitively before finishing to perfection with layers of lacquer. This finish gives the impression that the sculptures are almost immaterial: as if the colour is separating from the object and we are looking at a colour drawing hanging in space.
In his marble sculptures, Pattyn takes a different approach. His intention is to let the material speak in its purest form, with finishes ranging from matt to mirror-gloss. The interaction of the light with the surface structure has a consistently transformative effect on the natural colour of the stone.
Bas’s work is unmistakeably rooted in graphic design and furniture design. With patience and resourcefulness, he manages time and again to come up with new configurations within the same structure. His approach recalls that of a typographer, coming up with a variety of letters and patiently carving out an alphabet – each letter different but part of an overarching system of symbols.
His sculptures, often comprising multiple components, are like collages in which each element is unique yet forms a dynamic whole in combination with the others. Slanted lines, continuous folds and varying levels of depth contribute to a harmonious yet lively image. The perfection of the surfaces and the refined construction reflect the artist’s background in furniture design. His works appear effortless, as if consisting solely out of form and colour, without any visible traces of the making process or human intervention. It takes a great deal of technical precision to achieve this degree of apparent simplicity.
With his particular approach, Bas is building on a long tradition of abstract geometric art. There are palpable echoes of De Stijl, a movement in which colour and the use of the grid were decisive, and in which the boundaries between graphics, art, furniture and architecture were blurred. There are also areas of overlap with the attitudes, use of colour, formal language and chosen materials of minimalist artists such as Ellsworth Kelly, Donald Judd and Imi Knoebel.
Bas Pattyn is driven by the need to create order in our often chaotic world. The grid offers him a structured means of understanding and shaping reality and a firm foundation on which to build.
Tim Vanheers
EXPOSITIONS & WORKSHOPS
2025
Workshop – Biodesign (Luca School of Arts) – Gent, Belgium
Soloshow 'By the grid' at Oever Gallery – Oostende, Belgium
2024
Soloshow 'By the grid' at Oever Gallery – Oostende, Belgium
Imaginair Art/space – Brussel, Belgium
Summer Pop-Up with Oever Gallery – Knokke, Belgium
Nationa(a)l Artist Market – The Hoxton, Brussel, Belgium
2023
Affordable Art Fair Brussels – with Oever Gallery – Brussel, Belgium
2022
Double Fold at Oever Gallery – Oostende, Belgium
2020
Contemporary Design Market – Brussel, Belgium
2019
Buren bij Kunstenaars – Brugge, Belgium
Contemporary Design Market – Brussel, Belgium
ARTificial Gallery – Brugge, Belgium
2018
Buren bij Kunstenaars – Brugge, Belgium
Dutch Design Week /Thomas More – Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Week van het ontwerpen/Thomas More/Interieur 2018 – Kortrijk, Belgium
Exposition at DOK54 – Brugge, Belgium
Foodfest – Cadzand, The Netherlands
Designkwartier – Den Haag, The Netherlands
Designday.nl – Maastricht, The Netherlands
Exposición Balance/Thomas More – Lab26 – Havana, Cuba – (Winner of the Belgian entry)
Art At Sea – Knokke, Belgium
BelgianArtDesign/BAD2018 – Gent, Belgium
2017
Buren bij Kunstenaars – Brugge, Belgium
Week van het ontwerpen/Thomas More – Kortrijk, Belgium
Dutch Design Week/Thomas More – Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Workshop – Step Across The Border (GIDE) – Lugano, Switzerland
Workshop – Balance (ISDI) – Havana, Cuba
2016
Buren bij Kunstenaars – Brugge, Belgium
Workshop – Iggesund Design Experience – Iggesund, Sweden
2015
Workshop – Social Innovation Design, International Summer School – Wuxi, China