Pieter Koning

Sculptor and Painter

Curriculum Vitae

I was born in Holland in 1948. I originally set my sights on an academic career, but turned to sculpture after three years studying sociology and subsequently worked with qualified stone sculptors for two years learning and refining my art. I first exhibited my work in The Van Reekum Gallery in Amsterdam and went on to a successful career, showing regularly in acclaimed group shows throughout Holland during the seventies.

I came to Ireland in 1980 and settled in Teeraha, Caherciveen, County Kerry, where I established my studio. Here I not only live and work, but I also exhibit a permanent collection of my sculptures and paintings, as well as giving sculpture courses at Teeraha and throughout Ireland. I first exhibited my work in a group show in the Solomon Gallery in Dublin in 1982 and went on to show in group exhibitions in the Cork Art Society, The Frank Lewis Gallery, Killarney, Siamsa Tire Tralee and locally in Caherciveen. In 1986 my work was selected for the G.P.A. Exhibition in The Royal Hospital Kilmainham and the following year I had a very successful solo exhibition in the Lavitts Quay Art Gallery, Cork. My sculptures and paintings are in the collection of the Dutch Government as well as numerous private collections throughout Ireland, the United Kingdom, Germany and the United States.

Artist Statement

I fall in love with a material, try it out, fight with it, make it alive and transform it into a sculpture. The material is working on me and I am working on the material; it is like my mind, my energy and the energy of the stone and the wood are becoming one and to share that feeling, I create a sculpture that other people can see and, I hope, can experience.

Sculpture for me involves the imaginative transformation of inert matters, the working of signs and semblances of life into wood, stone or canvas, or whatever else is necessary to complete the piece. One reviewer called my work "symbolic, fantastic, realistic". I use all these characteristics in my work, but don't want to be dependent on them.
Sculpture for me must express the transitional nature of creative experience and that experience must be as wide as possible. I like to work in any kind of media and combine different materials such as stone, wood, metal, plaster and paint as well - I like to use whatever it takes to bring the work to a really successful conclusion.

Commissions

Exhibitions: