Kunst met een R

The Dutch pair Ruben and Eva delight audiences with their comical take on familiar subjects. Every one of their amicable characters is hand-sculpted and arranged within their shadow boxes to depict whimsical yet intimate scenes inspired by commonplace affairs such as eating french fries or stretching after a jog

Ruben Verheggen and Eva Post together form ‘Kunst Met Een R’ (Art With an R). Ruben conceptualizes the creative displays, while Eva applies her artistic genius in the details. From afar, it seems almost like a painting. However, as you bring your eye closer to the artwork, you can see the efforts made to create the tiniest of details in each facial expression and even the accessories. Eva uses a needle to make the finest imprints in colored clay that can only be seen upon close inspection. She takes care to create small folds in the fabrics and little wrinkles around the lips or eyes, creating fully realized characters.

“Eva’s eye for detail is bizarre. That is the beauty of our collaboration. The concept of mine and the details of her.” 

Ruben and Eva are partners in life as well as work. Their collaboration from creative concepts to fully developed pieces shows how smoothly they work together as if it is the mind and hand of a singular artist.

Ruben and Eva are from the Netherlands, where they first found fame on a Dutch national TV talk show, where they were invited to showcase their works. Not long after that, they were exhibiting in Amsterdam, Paris, Milan, and soon after across the globe. 

Ruben and Eva intend for their art to “put a smile on your face as soon as you see it.” They take typical, everyday scenes and twist them to fit into their fantastical worlds. Their artworks are a satirical conversation on popular culture, societal norms, and the direction that consumerism has taken over the last few decades. Sarcastic, ironic, but most of all, good-humored, this artistic duo transform the mundane into unique works of art.