Arthur Meijer was born in 1951 in Haarlem and currently lives and works in Amsterdam. He studied at the teacher training college d’Witte Leli in Amsterdam, where he specialized in textile work forms and ceramics. Later he followed additional studies at the Academy for Visual Arts, focusing on metal and ceramics, and continued to develop himself through courses in sculpting, painting, stone carving and bronze casting.
After years as a teacher of manual skills in Montessori education, Meijer decided to devote himself entirely to his artistry in 2000. He teaches ceramics and sculpting at MK24 in Amsterdam and has built up a broad oeuvre consisting of architecturally inspired sculptures, wire sculptures and so-called ‘follies’: imaginative constructions without a function. His work exudes a deep fascination for Mediterranean and Arabic architecture, often inspired by travels to countries such as Yemen, Morocco, Iran, Peru and Indonesia.
The series ‘Case, Casas & Menazil’, which he has been working on since the 1990s, depicts imaginary settlements in clay. With warm earth tones, straight lines and tranquil shapes, he evokes a sense of peace and timelessness. His sculptures are made of terracotta, bronze, metal or plastic, and are regularly exhibited at art fairs, in galleries and museums. For example, he made monumental models of the Topkapi Palace and the Hortus Botanicus in Leiden, and in Portugal he built a tower several metres high based on a Yemeni example.
Arthur Meijer combines the artisanal with the poetic. His work is imbued with memories of faraway places, but at the same time remains tangible and earthy. He invites the viewer to wander along imaginary streets and to get lost in light and form.
