Biography
Maarten Baas (b. February 19, 1978, Arnsberg, Germany) is an internationally renowned Dutch artist and designer celebrated for his playful, thought-provoking approach to art and design.
Baas studied at the Design Academy Eindhoven, where he developed his distinctive style. He gained international recognition in 2002 with Smoke, a collection of burned furniture that preserved the original form while reimagining classic design. This breakthrough collection received widespread acclaim and launched his career.
In 2006, Baas introduced Clay, a hand-sculpted collection emphasizing imperfection and intuition. In 2009, he unveiled Real Time, a series of 12-hour films depicting the passage of time, including the world-famous Schiphol Clock. This series highlighted the performative and philosophical dimensions of his work and earned further recognition when the Rijksmuseum acquired a piece.
Baas’s Smoke and Clay works were included in the New York Times list of “Top 25 Design Classics of the Future” in 2012. He won the ArtPrize in 2016 for his Real Time Sweepers clock. Major exhibitions followed, including a solo show at the Groninger Museum (2017), a presentation at Die Neue Sammlung in Munich (2021), and It’s About Time at Museum Voorlinden (2023), which further explored his vision of time and transformation.
Today, Baas works from his studio in Den Bosch. His creations are featured in the collections of prestigious institutions, including MoMA in New York, Les Arts Décoratifs in Paris, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. In the Netherlands, his work can be found in, among others, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam and the Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam. Baas has also worked for exclusive brands like Louis Vuitton, Swarovski, Hermès, Dior, Isabel Marant, KLM and Schiphol Airport, Dom Ruinart and Berluti.
CV
Education
- 2002 Design Academy, Eindhoven, NL
Solo Exhibitions (selection)
- 2024
Gewerbemuseum, Winterthur, (CH) - 2023
Its about Time, Museum Voorlinden, Wassenaar, (NL), cat.
More or Less, light art installation, Chiesa San Paolo Converso, Milan (IT)
PLAY TIME, Carpenters Workshop Gallery, West Hollywood, LA (US) - 2021
Hide & Seek, Museum of Visual Arts MALVA, Lathi, (FI)
New Times, Die Neue Sammlung/ Pinakothek der Moderne, Munchen (DE), cat.
Second Act, art installation, Fondaco dei Tedeschi, La Biennale di Venezia 2021, Venice, (IT)
- 2019
“I think therefore I was”, video installation, Milan (IT) - 2019-2018
Hide & Seek, DMH Museum, Holon (IL) - 2018
Hide & Seek, Design Museum Gent, Gent (BE)
Close Parity, Carpenters Workshop Gallery, Paris (FA) - 2017
Hide & Seek, Groninger Museum, Groningen (NL), cat.
Run & Hide Carpenters Workshop Gallery, London (GB) - 2016
Sweepers clock Grand Rapids Art Museum, Michigan (US) (winner ArtPrize)
Carapace Carpenters Workshop Gallery, New York (US) - 2014
The Sense of an Ending Centraal Museum, Utrecht (NL) - 2011
Les Curiositées , MAD Musée, Paris (FR) - 2010
Catalysis for Life Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, Tokyo (JP)
Making Things Personal Stedelijk Museum, s-Hertogenbosch (NL)
Group Exhibitons
- 2024
25 Years of Galerie Ron Mandos, Galerie Ron Mandos, Amsterdam (NL)
(Un)monumenting, NDSM-werf, Amsterdam, (NL) - 2023
Uneversum: Rythms and Spaces, ETDM museum, Tallinn (EE) - 2022
De Collectie is… , Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven (NL) - 2021-ongoing
H3h kunstbiennale (voorheen Kunst in de Heilige Driehoek), Growing Goals, installatie, Osterhout (NL)
- 2021
Unbound/Unseen, “Second Nature”, video installation, Ron Mandos Galley, Amsterdam (NL)
Art Rotterdam part #1 at the gallery, Ron Mandos Gallery, Amsterdam (NL)
Glass to Glass, Berengo Foundation, La Biennale di Venizia, Venice (IT) - 2020
Frieze Los Angeles, Forever Young, sculpture, Los Angeles (US)
Extra Ordinary, MUDAC, Lausanne (CH) - 2019 – 2021
Design by Time (will tour through USA until March 2021), Pratt Institute, Manhattan, New York (USA) - 2019
Dysfunctional/ Biennale Arte 2019 with Carpenters Workshop Gallery, Venice (IT)
Dark Fantasy, UTA Artist space & Carpenters Workshop Gallery, Los Angeles (USA)
NEO BARROCO: Armonia y Contrapunto, Museo Franz Mayer, Mexico City (MX) - 2018
Imaginarium 2018 Into the Space of Time: Explorations in Contemporary Art Singapore Art Museum (SG) - 2017
TEFAF, Carpenters Workshop Gallery, New York (US)
Beyond Generations, Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven (NL) - 2015
Fetishism, Trapholt museum, Kolding (DK)
Telling Time, MUDAC, Lausanne (CH) - 2014
Sense Nonsense, Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven (NL)
Self Unself, Suzhou Jinji Lake Art Museum, Macau (CN) - 2013
Hand Made, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam (NL)
Black in Fine Arts, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen, Rouen (FR)
Égarements – Art contemporain, Château d’Avignon Centre National des Arts Plastiques, Les Saintes-Marie de la Mer (FR)
Public Collections (selection)
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, NL
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, NL
Groninger Museum, Groningen, NL
Museum of Modern Art, New York (US)
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco (US)
High Museum of Art, Atlanta (US)
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles (US)
Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Houston (US)
Philip Johnson Glass House, New Canaan (US)
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago (US)
Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis (US)
Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (CA)
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia (US)
Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland (US)
Grand Rapids Art Museum, Michigan (US)
Museum of Contemporary Art, (MOT-art museum), Tokyo (JP)
Melbourne Museum Victoria, Melbourne (AU)
Victoria & Albert Museum, London (GB)
Design Museum, London (GB)
Centre National des Arts Plastiques, Paris (FR)
Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris (FR)
Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean, Luxembourg (LU)
CID – centre d’innovation et de design au Grand-Hornu, Hornu (BE)
Die Neue Sammlung, Munich (DU)
The Röhsska Museum of Fashion, Design and Decorative Arts, Göteborg (SE)
Musée de Design et d’Arts Appliqués Contemporains, Lausanne (CH)
Audax Textielmuseum, Tilburg (NL)
Centraal Museum, Utrecht (NL)
Lahti Museum of Visual Arts Malva, Lahti (FI)
Museum Voorlinden, Wassenaar (NL)
Commissions and works in corporate and private art collections (selection)
Louis Vuitton
Christian Dior
Dom Ruinart
Gramercy Park Hotel
Swarovski
Hermès
Berluti
KLM
Isabel Marant
Valerie_Objects
VIP Lounge Schiphol Airport
Orato
G-Star Raw
and various private collectors.
Publications (selection)
- 2023
Suzanne Swarts e.a., Maarten Baas – It’s about time, cat. Wassenaar (Museum Voorlinden) - 2021
Angelika Nollert e.a., Maarten Baas – New Times, cat. München (Die Neue Sammlung – Pinakothek der Moderne) - 2017
Wim Pijbes e.a., Maarten Baas – Hide & Seek, Lecturis
