‘For ‘Fake Tang Chimera’ and ‘Fakish Tang’ I played with the idea that a lot of ‘Tang’ pottery is faked, often very well and sometimes indiscernible from the real ones.’ – Bouke de Vries
Fake tang Chimera, 2026 | 20th century Chinese earthen ware fragments, steel and bronze | 72,5 x 48 x 34 cm
Bouke de Vries | Art Brussels 2026
Bouke de Vries participates in the Art Brussels 2026 with his signature Memory Vessel alongside new sculptural works that extend his ongoing exploration of ceramics. Trained as a restorer, he reworks broken objects, not by repairing them but by transforming their fractures into the core of the work. His “exploded” compositions expose the moment of rupture, giving form to what he describes as the beauty of destruction. Following his recent exhibition Unbroken at the Princessehof National Museum of Ceramics, in Leeuwarden, these works continue to reconsider fragility, history and material memory.
Buddhist memory vessel , 2019 | Chinese Song 12th-13th century dynasty earthenware and glass | 33 x 28 cm
Bouke de Vries
When Bouke de Vries studied as a restorer, he worked for a period at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. At that time, they were working on the new displays for the glass gallery. One of the pieces De Vries had to restore was a Roman cinerary urn, which contained human ashes after cremation. When the artist started making his own work, he kept thinking about this urn and conceived the idea of how it would work to apply the idea of a cinerary urn to a broken vase. By making an exact replica of a broken vase and then putting the broken fragments inside the glass replica, De Vries creates a memory of its original form. De Vries has been making these type of memory vessels since 2015.
For Fakish Tang, de Vries used a genuinely damaged Tang figure, but swapped the horse and rider. Drawing on his expertise in restoring this type of ceramic, he reworked and retouched the piece so it appears as though it had always existed in this altered form.
After de Chirico is part of an ongoing series based on Han dynasty figures. In this case, the original figure was missing its head; de Vries added an oval one, evoking the surreal, mannequin-like figures found in paintings by Giorgio de Chirico.
For this work, titled Fake Tang Chimera, de Vries assembled fragments from “Tang-style” animals made for tourists. He combined these elements to create an entirely imaginary creature—one that has never existed. The piece thus operates as a double fake: both in the materials from which it is constructed and in the fictitious creature it depicts.
Fake tang Chimera, 2026 | 20th century Chinese earthen ware fragments, steel and bronze | 72,5 x 48 x 34 cm
Bouke de Vries
About the Artist
Bouke de Vries studied at the Design Academy Eindhoven, and Central St Martin’s, London. After working with John Galliano, Stephen Jones and Zandra Rhodes, he switched careers and studied ceramics conservation and restoration at West Dean College. Every day in his practice as a private conservator he was faced with issues and contradictions around perfection and worth: “The Venus de Milo’ is venerated despite losing her arms, but when a Meissen muse loses a finger she is rendered virtually worthless.”
Artist page
