“I Need Access to Heaven”

An exhibition by Koos de Vries

Opening with the artist:
Saturday September 13th 17:00-20:00
Exhibition dates:
September 13th – October 18th, 2025

Ten Haaf Projects is pleased to announce “I Need Access to Heaven”, a solo exhibition
by Koos de Vries (NL). The self-portraits on display continue his body of work, in
which he just portrays himself.

The artist likes to depict himself in everyday earthly scenes intertwined with
mythological and heavenly narratives. In this context, he views heaven as a metaphor
for the search for inner peace in a hedonistic world marked by chaos, hostility and
violence.

One of his paintings shows him receiving the stigmata while on holiday in Austria. In
his imagination, the experience of suffering grants him access to heaven. The title of
the painting, I Don’t Care If They Are Just Beautiful Lies, reveals his skepticism. Though
he does not genuinely believe in heaven or the symbolism of the stigmata, he
deliberately creates works that appear to testify to his own “sanctification.” For
example, one painting shows him holding a pair of sunglasses as protection against
the blinding light of the stigmata. In another work, he depicts the rays reflecting off
the lenses of the sunglasses.

Using the same colours, he also portrayed himself as Narcissus, struck by a love arrow
and drowning in heartbreak over his own unreciprocated reflection. He is consumed
by his own self-glorification. The painting The Last Beer captures the familiar moment
of having one final drink at the end of a heavy night of drinking. Of course, it's never
truly the last. What follows is the inevitable shame and hangover the next day.

The exhibition title, I Need Access to Heaven, is a direct quote from the song “Best in
Show Part IV” by the Viagra Boys. Toward the end of the track, the phrase is repeated:
“I need access to heaven, I need access to heaven, I need access to heaven… or ain’t
none of this gonna work out, none of it...”

Download press invitation

Koos de Vries (b. 1993) studied at the Sint Joost Academy in Den Bosch and currently
lives and works in Nijmegen. His work has been exhibited in the Netherlands, Italy,
and Germany. This marks his second solo exhibition at Ten Haaf Projects.