BYTS: the Bosch Young Talent Show

An international art event for emerging talented artists from 15 ‘Bosch’ cities.

In the run up to the 500th anniversary of the death of Jheronimus Bosch in 2016, the painter’s native town of ‘s-Hertogenbosch is launching BYTS: Bosch Young Talent Show. This annually recurring, ten-day art event will take place in July and is intended for artists under 30 from a so-called ‘Bosch’ city, who are either in their final year at art school or graduated a year ago.

So what is a ‘Bosch’ city? Jheronimus Bosch’s work is spread all over the world and public art collections in diverse cities have the honour of housing a work – or works – by this Dutch Master. The cities include Berlin, Bruges, Brussels, Frankfurt, Ghent, Lisbon, London, Madrid, New Haven, New York, Paris, Rotterdam, Venice, Washington and Vienna. It is the idea that ‘s-Hertogenbosch and BYTS will forge a link with these fifteen centres by selecting and inviting a number of promising artists to showcase their work in the Dutch city.

BYTS is a platform for young up-and-coming talent. The artists will be able to show their work to curators, dealers, art critics, collectors and of course the wider art-loving public. Thus BYTS provides the perfect opportunity for exhibitors to make contacts and may be seen as a prelude to furthering a possibly international career. As well as exhibiting their work, the BYTS will host a summer school exclusively for participating artists, with receptions hosted by museum directors and talks by eminent artists, curators and critics. It is the idea that this will not only enable the artists to broaden their knowledge but also extend their international network.

Three or four artists from each of the Bosch cities will be selected to take part in BYTS. They will be chosen by internationally respected artists or curators from the cities, thus ensuring the quality and innovative nature of the work submitted by participants. BYTS is committed to a high-standard selection process as a precondition for the event acquiring significance in the international art world.

BYTS offers more in the form of the ‘fringe’. In association with the Stedelijk Museum ’s-Hertogenbosch (aka SM’s), ‘s-Hertogenbosch, local students from St Joost’s academy of art and design will be able to show their work in the museum. Rather than a selection process this will be based on the ‘full means full’ principle. This again strengthen BYTS’s role as a meeting point for young talent.

BYTS creates an international community of young artists all inspiring each other. This means a strengthening of both the international art climate and the nature of the visual arts in the Netherlands. Galleries, collectors and other interested parties are given a unique insight into the most recent developments in the field. Young artists present their own work, thereby creating a large number of small solo exhibitions representing a smorgasbord of contemporary art and developments. BYTS is the place where dealers and collectors go in search of young artists, while young artists come directly in contact with the practical side of their profession in all manner of ways.

BYTS is nothing less than an on-going link between the international Bosch cities. Their common feature is not only the fact that they all possess one or more works by Jheronimus Bosch, but their art schools are also a breeding ground for young creative talent. It is these young artists who, just like Jheronimus Bosch five hundred years ago, are engaged in developing a new visual idiom which gives contemporary art its identity and character. BYTS, mindful of the legacy of Jheronimus Bosch, is pleased to offer them the opportunity to continue with this at an international level.

The first BYTS will take place at St Joost’s academy of art and design, ‘s-Hertogenbosch, and is open to the general public for two weekends (including Fridays).
Bosch Young Talent Show, ‘s-Hertogenbosch
From: 15 – 25 July 2010
Opening: Thursday, 15 July at 17hrs
Summer school: 19 – 22 July

More information:
Monique Verhulst
Monique.verhulst@bosch500.nl
+31 73 6875690

Press release: Bosch Young Talent Show,
Academy for Art and Design AKV (St. Joost, Avans Hogeschool),
's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands 15.07.2010 - 25.07.2010