Education:
1985 - 1990 Photography, Royal Academy ofArt, The Hague
1979 - 1983 Civil Engineering, HTS voor Bouwkunde, Utrecht
Clients (selection):
Total Identity, 2D3D, Ogilvy & Mather, Business Week, New York Times, Vrij Nederland, Delta Lloyd, Nederlandse Zorg Autoriteit, ROC MN, IBM, E-On, Musée d’Ethnographie de Genève, Akzo Nobel, Philips, Sinot Design Associates, Gemeente Utrecht, NS, Van Lanschot Bankiers, Total Identity, Bo-ex, Stichting Kunstfactor, Kars Advies, Explorama, Schule für Gestaltung Basel, Zuwe Hofpoort Ziekenhuis, Antonius Ziekenhuis, WRIK, Carta Communicatie, Nederlands Instituut voor Sport en Bewegen, Scholengemeenschap De Werkplaats | Kees Boeke, Stichting Natuur & Milieu, SenterNovem, Mitros, Axioncontinu, Bladen & Co, Uitgeverij Gusto, 2D3D, SWP, RondOm, Utrecht Toerisme, Provincie Utrecht, Verder, Portaal, Idee Consult, Aedis, De Vries Advocaten, SSH, Health Valley, Waterschap De Dommel, Relief Zorginstellingen, Rijkswaterstaat, Taluut Ontwerp, Augeo, Mireille Geijsen, Boezeman Teksten, DDK & Partners, Stichting Natuur&Milieu, Hollandse Hoogte, Van Grafhorst Notarissen, Gemeente Stichtse Vecht, Op Pad, Reizen, Joie de Vivre, Arcadis, NS Poort, SBWU, Lister, Actiz, Ballast Nedam, Reinaerde, SNV, BuZa, Diezelle Basel, Gemeentemuseum Arnhem, BRT, KRO, Veiligheidsregio Utrecht.
Selected Biography | Projects:
2015 Karta 1-9, FSD - Green Cross, Chkalovsk, Tajikistan
2014 Oberflächligkeiten, EyesOn / Vienna Art Week, Brotfabrik, Wien
2012 - 2014 Schule für Gestaltung, Basel, Switserland:
Red Plot
Cuba Va!
Cinema Moviel
Luder
Too Late
2011 Hanneke, Privat Home, Munich, Germany
2010 Hot Siberia, Galery Tellechea, Mallorca, Spain
2009 Intervention, Anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution, Genèva, Switserland
2009 Russian Impressions, UBS Bank, Genèva, Switserland
2009 Intervention, Lenin's Birthday, Musée d’ethnographie de Genève, Conches, Switserland
2009 Villa Sovietica, Musée d’ethnographie de Genève, Conches, Switserland
2009 Cadrer ‘l Est, Musée d’ethnographie de Genève, Genèva, Switserland
2009 Hot Siberia Manifestation d’art Contemporain, MAMCO, Genèva, Switserland
2009 Inside - Outside, Central Station, Tilburg, The Netherlands
Selected Books, Articles, Reviews, e.a. :
2015 Lecture, Universidad de La Habana, facultad de Artes y Letras, Havana, Cuba
2015 Lecture, Gallery Factoría Habana, Havana, Cuba
2014 Lecture, FHNW Hochschule für Gestaltung und Kunst, Basel
2014 Lecture, Poldox / Universiteit van Amsterdam, Amsterdam
2013 Transcultural Montage. Clashing Images, Expectations and Receptions. Oxford, Berghahn (Alexandra Schüssler)
2011 Nachbild, Noli me Tangere, Basel, SfG (Alexandra Schüssler)
2009 Villa Sovietica. Soviet Objects: Import-Export. Exh.Cat. Musée d'Ethnographie Genève, Gollion, Infolio Editions
2009 Villa Sovietica. The Object of an Object: Photography. Gollion, Infolio Editions (Nicolas Crispini)
2009 Lecture, Universitatea Natională, Bucharest
1997 De Europese Top. Utrecht
1995 Bedevaarten in Europa. Lannoo. Tielt
Background:
Willem Mes (Rotterdam), photographer, works and lives in Utrecht. In 1990 he graduated at the Royal Academy of fine Arts in The Hague. Already in 1986 he completed his first photo project on daily life in Palestinian refugee camps in Jordan. As autodidact he worked several years at an audio-visual company in Utrecht. "The seven works of mercy", a project for the Rijksmuseum Catherijneconvent, was his first major work. Represented by Hollandse Hoogte, he is commissioned by numerous Dutch and international clients. All kind of commissioned work and projects, made him travel over the five continents and he has shown his works at countless cultural institutions, e.g. in Lusaka (2000), Amsterdam (2001), Utrecht (2004), Tilburg (2009), Geneva (2009), Mallorca (2010), etc. He has published in various books and in magazines e.g. “Pelgrimage in Europe” (1998), "Avantgarde" (1999), "The European Landscape" (2004), "Villa Sovietica" (2009), “Oberflächligkeiten” (2012), etc. Beside these projects, he has provided photos for image banks, annual reports, corporate identity, magazines, etc. In cooperation with curator Alexandra Schüssler and artists from Kiev and München, he collaborated in the “Villa Sovietica” exhibition at the MEG in Geneva. The catalog of this exhibit, made with this team and graphic designer Severine Mailer, as part of the “Villa Sovietica” exhibition, in which his photo-essay was published, was nominated by Nouvel Observateur as one of the most beautiful books published in France in 2009. Currently his focus of interest is on projects in the post-socialist countries. Documentary projects like “Novy Dvor”, “ Mladost Tatralan” are made in cooperation with an international team. Since 2009 he joined the ‘Mm Europe’ group, based in Vienna, a group of artists, scientist and designers who are making concepts and elaborate various exhibitions for musea in Switserland and Norway.