Berndnaut Smilde

Berndnaut Smilde is a Dutch visual artist, born in 1978 in Groningen, Netherlands. His works include installations, photos, and sculptures, and focuses on temporal nature of deconstruction and construction. He is known for his Nimbus series – photographs of artificial clouds. The artist is fascinated by duality, so his work aims to investigate the notion of inside and outside, the function of materials and architectural elements, temporality, and size. Smilde attended Minerva Academy of Hanzehogeschool in Groningen, Netherlands, where he earned his BFA in 2001. In 2005, he received his MFA from Frank Mohr Institute, Hanzehogeschool in Groningen, Netherlands.

Photography of Berndnaut Smilde

Berndnaut is renowned for his Nimbus body of work, which has gathered a lot of public attention. Since 2010, he has been creating fluffy, dense clouds indoors, using an array of equipment. Smilde creates ethereal clouds that disperse after 10 seconds, which is just enough to get them photographed. He makes ephemeral and mysterious miniature clouds in various locations, from churches and castles to NeueHouse on the 25th Street in New York, in honor of Frieze New York. The only condition is that the venue is damp and cold, without air circulation. The photographer takes a photo of the cloud, as soon as the artist creates it. Sometimes it takes 100 clouds to make a perfect photo. Berndnaut Smilde likes the duality that clouds possess – indoors instead of outdoors, they can be both threatening and very serene, depending on the context. They are like goals and plans which seem achievable until you reach for them and they fall apart just a few seconds later.

Mysterious miniature clouds are created in various locations, from churches and castles

Other Projects and Commissions

Apart from his hugely-popular Nimbus series, the artist has collaborated and carried out various other projects. In 2015, during his residency at Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art in Boulder, Colorado, and in collaboration with scientist Steve Tomczyk, he built a prototype prism that breaks light at a large scale. The same year, he spent six days working together with 12 other participants invited by Mesa & Cadeira on creating a natural phenomenon onto the surrounding of Sao Paulo. In 2010, he created Conditioner, the sculpture which converted the gallery air into antiseptic air. In addition to that, his clouds were commissioned for Harper’s Bazaar September issue in 2013. The project was carried out together with Simon Procter, Karl Lagerfeld, Donatella Versace, Alber Elbaz and Dolce & Gabbana.

Apart from his hugely-popular Nimbus series the artist has done various other projects

Exhibitions and Achievements

Smilde has exhibited his works both in his home country and abroad, in the cities such as Istanbul in Turkey, Taipei in Taiwan, Dublin in Ireland, Toronto in Canada, Paris in France, San Francisco in the United States and London in the United Kingdom. He had his first large-scale solo show in the United States at Land of Tomorrow in Louisville in Kentucky in 2013. His more recent solo exhibition venues include LIAN Contemporary Art Space in Shanghai, China, and Ronchini Gallery in London, United Kingdom. Berndnaut Smilde guest curated a show at the Bonnefantenmuseum in Maastricht, Netherlands. In 2008, he was invited to be an Artist in Residency at the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin, Ireland.

TIME Magazine proclaimed Nimbus works one of the Top Ten Inventions of 2012

Publications

TIME Magazine proclaimed Berndnaut's Nimbus works one of the Top Ten Inventions of 2012. His works have been featured in many publications and online magazines, such as T Magazine, The Huffington Post, Wired, Imagine Architecture: Artistic Visions of the Urban Realm, Financial Times and The Daily Telegraph. The artist is represented by Ronchini Gallery in London, United Kingdom.

Berndnaut Smilde lives and works in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

All images courtesy of the artist