Marc Ruygrok

Letters become images

December 10, 2025 - March 29, 2026

Marc Ruygrok

Letters become images

Visual artist Marc Ruygrok (b. 1953) grew up next to the studio of his grandfather, sculptor Albert Termote. As a self-taught artist, he developed a completely unique, contemporary language of form in which letters and image merge.  

Ruygrok always works with text and three-dimensionality. In doing so, he engages in both typography and sculpture and feels most comfortable at the intersection of art forms. His visual language is characterized by geometric simplicity - circles, spheres and cubes - and by a conscious dialogue between textual meaning and spatial form. He works a lot in public space: works of art that are specific to a place while evoking multiple layers of meaning. Well-known, for example, is his “gas molecule” along the A7, which shows that art does not only belong within museum walls, but is also an addition to everyday life. 

The artworks he created for the 21st-century Vroonermeer neighborhood in Alkmaar are the reason for this exhibition. Letters become images shows a selection of Ruygrok's versatile work, from intimate drawings to three-dimensional sculptures. An exhibition full of language, rhythm and wonder, where you experience how letters can move, wake and come to life. 

A visit to this exhibition offers a rare opportunity to see Marc Ruygrok's work in its full scope. 

Practical information  
The exhibition is on view from now at Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar through March 29, 2026.