Jacob van der Beugel

Through a Quiet Lens

“We are, as the Dutch say, pulled from the clay.” — Jacob van der Beugel
Richeldis, BCN — May 2025

Jacob van der Beugel (b. 1978, London; lives and works in Devon) presents a new and exclusive body of work that continues his radical exploration of the boundaries between art, science, and human identity. This exhibition brings together two major developments in van der Beugel’s practice: a series of monumental off-white ceramic wall works, and the evolution of his Pills sculptures—abstract forms cast from recycled and self-healing concrete.

Van der Beugel’s work is grounded in a hybrid practice that draws from material craft, scientific data, and architectural installation. Originally trained in ceramics under Rupert Spira and Edmund de Waal, and shaped by his early studies in art history, he creates works that are not illustrations of science but transformations of it—tactile, conceptual, and philosophical translations of the body’s internal systems and psychological states.

At the centre of this exhibition are the off-white ceramic wall works, which push van der Beugel’s practice toward a more purist aesthetic. The new works are defined by their absence of colour and the use of subtle patination, making them both minimalist and deeply complex. The familiar patterns of DNA and the mapping of genetic systems remain present, but are now rendered in their purest form. This collection marks a moment in van der Beugel’s work where he strips away the distraction of colour, leaving behind only the architectural rhythm of hand-cast ceramic units arranged in precise sequences. The result is a heightened sense of purity and clarity, making this body of work distinct in his broader practice. They recall his landmark commissions, such as The North Sketch Sequence at Chatsworth House, and The DNA Room at Paleis Huis ten Bosch, which embedded royal family DNA into architectural space. In van der Beugel’s words, these works are a form of portraiture that transcends likeness—“a visual arena for understanding the self through the architecture of science.”

This new series of Pills marks an evolution in van der Beugel’s ongoing exploration of form, medicine, and psychological containment. Cast from highly polished self-healing concrete—a material developed by scientists in Delft—the Pills exist as symbolic and sculptural objects. Enlarging something intimately familiar into a form that becomes architectural, monumental, and quietly uncanny, they lie in space with a grounded stillness that carries a certain classical weight. The Pills are monochrome, a departure from previous works, giving them an even more austere, purist quality. Their surfaces, patinated rather than distressed, suggest a quiet rupture and resilience. The intricate copper inlays, though reminiscent of fauna or microscopic organisms, lend the sculptures an organic life. In the context of this exhibition, the Pills function not as remedies, but as reliquaries—objects that hold the anxiety, hope, and abstraction of the healing process itself.

There is a quiet, meditative quality to these pieces, where the weight of history and the precision of science meet with an organic softness. The intricate inlays, which seem to nod at ancient patterns found in both Eastern and Western traditions, bridge the realms of nature and medicine, evoking a timeless connection between the two. Much like the great sculptures of the past, the Pills bring an effortless balance—combining strength with delicacy, and past with present—offering a contemplative reflection on our existence. The work invites an appreciation of both the scientific and natural worlds, captured in a form that feels both ancient and contemporary, monumental and intimate.

“There is no stillness here. It is a mutating story.” — Edmund de Waal

Throughout van der Beugel’s practice is an ongoing fascination with endurance—both biological and cultural—and with the material metaphors that arise from natural systems and architectural repetition. His use of ceramic and concrete is not incidental: these are elemental, durable materials, capable of carrying memory, gesture, and erosion. The tension between their permanence and fragility reflects the human condition itself: bodies coded by biology, shaped by context, always changing.

Exhibitions and collections include: Chatsworth House, Paleis Huis ten Bosch, the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Victoria and Albert Museum, Museum Beelden aan Zee, the Royal Academy of Arts, the University of Cambridge, the Wallace Collection, and the Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine, Los Angeles.