kees ouwens - profile
1958
Born in Jaarsveld city, Netherlands.
1978-1981
Study at the Royal Horticultural College, Utrecht city.
1982
Went to Japan to study Japanese art, culture, and garden architecture.
1985
Participated at the Ohtsuki art symposium, making stone sculpture, Kochi-prefecture, Japan. Assisted prof. Seiichi Sasaki of Tama art university Tokyo city with a research on Indonesian glass paintings in Indonesia.
1986
Exhibition at gallery Balai Budaya, Jakarta city, Indonesia. Started company, Niwa international, Amersfoort city, The Netherlands.
1987
Exhibition "Ishi 87" at zoological park Amersfoort city, The Netherlands.
1988
Exhibition together with sculptor Jits Bakker in Amersfoort city, The Netherlands.
1989
Made sculptures and installation which were used on stage by modern dance group "Trans" at performances in Braunschweig city, Germany, in Luxembourg city, Luxembourg, in Amsterdam and Rotterdam city, The Netherlands. Group exhibition at gallery "De ploegh," Amersfoort city, The Netherlands.
1990
Exhibition at the Dutch cultural centre "Erasmus huis," Jakarta, and exhibition at Sumadra beach hotel Pelabuhan-ratu, Indonesia.
1991
Exhibitions at gallery "Plein 1", Hitachi Data Systems, and Slot Zeist, Zeist city, The Netherlands.
1992
Assisted sculptor Jits Bakker with exhibition in Faro city, Portugal. Opening of stone studio in Pelabuhan-ratu, Indonesia.
1993
Organized Kei dance tour Japan, performances of modern dance combining music, location, and stone sculptures. Making of traditional Japanese garden, Amersfoort zoo, The Netherlands.
1994
Exhibition at museum "Zonnehof," Amersfoort city, The Netherlands.
1995
Exhibition at Mariënhof garden, Amersfoort city, The Netherlands.
1996
Opening of studio O-huis, Uwa Seiyo city, Japan.
1998
Public space project "98. Installation of stone sculptures on various locations in the centre of Matsuyama city, Japan. Exhibition at Vivit Hall Ehime Broadcasting Company, Matsuyama city, Japan.
1999
Tanbo project 2000, installation of stone sculptures in rice fields for 1 year, Uwa Seiyo city, Japan.
2000
Exhibition at Dejima, Nagasaki city, Japan. Participated at international contemporary art festival Tobe city, Japan.
2001
Made sculpture garden at Waseda University of advanced research, Kitakyushu city, Japan. Uchinuki '21, installation of 21 stone waterbassins in the centre of Saiyo city, Japan. Participated at Stone symposium making sculpture, Saiyo city, Japan.
2002
Sculpture exhibition at bamboo forest, Kyoto city, Japan.
2003
Made gardens with sculptures at Kashiba city and Honai city, Japan. Exhibition at Japan Stone Fair,Tokio,Japan.
2004
Tanbo.X.project, installation of big-art boxes in rice fields for 1 year, Uwa Seiyo city, Japan.
2005
Made peace monument for Uwajima city, Japan.
2006
Made traditional tea garden for Japanese cultural centre Shofukan, Rotterdam city, The Netherlands.
2007
Exhibition "Objects of Art" at Gallery Live-Art, Matsuyama-city, Japan. Photographic Art commission for the Waarde Foundation, Beek-Ubbergen, The Netherlands. Exhibition at the Biennale of Contemporary Art in Florence, Italy.
2008
Participated and won a sculpture award at Sculpture Key-West, Florida, U.S.A. Was invited as the first international artist to place a sculpture and give a lecture at the Union University Sculpture Tour in Jackson City, Tennessee, U.S.A..
2009
Participation at the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial 2009 in Tokamachi, Niigata, Japan.
Commission for the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial, Niigata, Japan.
Commission for the Frostic School of Art, Sculpture Tour, at the Sculpture Garden of the Richmond Center for Visual Arts, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan, U.S.A.
2010
Commission for memorial grave sculptures in Yawatahama and Uwajima City, Japan. Exhibition of stone sculptures and drawings at The Museum of Art in Matsuyama City, Japan. Founded Seiyo Art Initiative in Seiyo City, Japan.
2011
Participated at the Festival Arte de la Tierra Volcan Paricutin in Michoacan State, Mexico. Selected to show his work at Art on the River in Dubuque-city, Iowa, U.S.A.. Gave a workshop and lecture at the Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Mexico at the Faculty of Arts,Toluca-city, Mexico. Commission for Stone Sculpture at the Public City Office, Seiyo City, Japan.
2012
Invited to oversee, direct, and install the outdoor exhibition of the textile objects of Izukura Akihiko at the University and the Academy of Art in Hawaii. Designed and placed a tea house at Shofukan Japanese cultural center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Invited to make an Art Object at the Geumgang Nature Art Biennale, Gongju-city, South- Korea.
