Maarten Vrolijk – star creator celebrates Stockholm with unique new art glass at Galleri Glas

Maarten Vrolijk
Blooming Terra
April 11 - May 9, 2024
Galleri Glas

Maarten Vrolijk is the Dutch star creator who has left a lengthy and brilliant career behind him in order to focus on his own art. At Galleri Glas in Stockholm he is making his début with an exhibition principally concerned with art glass. A large part of the Sakura collection has been specifically created for this exhibition, inspired by cherry blossom since the show takes place at the time when the cherry trees are in bloom in Stockholm’s Kungsträdgården.

“I am bewitched by spring”, Maarten Vrolijk explains. “Where I grew up in small Dutch town. There was a very special cherry tree in our garden that I felt very connected to in a certain way".

"I regard my Sakura glass as a canvas where I paint with the various glass pieces like a painter with his paint”.

As a child there was something magical about how the black dark branches were converted into something magnificent in the form of cherry blossom that was apparent everywhere. I could not understand how people could keep on working or carry on living in the normal way when this miracle was in progress and nature was wakening again. Children see more clearly. As adults we are so busy fighting for our own egos, for money, success, a bigger house and suchlike that we forget what is important. It is no accident that we have chosen this time of the year for the exhibition in Stockholm which is a strikingly beautiful city that inspires me.”

Maarten Vrolijk is a multitalented artist, designer and creator in various disciplines. His début came at an early stage of his career while he was still a student at the famous Design Academy in Eindhoven. For two decades he worked as a designer and art director for a variety of prestigious clients all over the world. His work is represented in collections at museums including MoMA in New York and the Stedelijk in Amsterdam. For many years he designed for the famous German firm of Rosenthal where he was a younger colleague of legendary designers like Gianni Versace and Tapio Wirkkala. Vrolijk also runs his own successful brand.

In the mid 2010s Maarten Vrolijk decided to change direction and to focus on his own art with glass as the most important material which he worked in his own studio in Amsterdam. Since that time he has exhibited regularly in New York, London, Paris, Miami, Los Angeles, Amsterdam and other cities. Vrolijk’s glass art is represented in many famous museums and private collections all over the world.

This exhibition featuring Maarten Vrolijk marks a new start on the part of Galleri Glas in showing leading international art glass.

“Right from the beginning our vision has been to offer both Swedish and international art glass”, Elin Forsberg explains. “The Pandemic made this all the more problematic. Now it feels inspirational to be able to exhibit a leading international artist like Maarten Vrolijk. His work reminds us of the hope connected with the arrival of spring and, hopefully, of better times ahead.”