04-10-2022

Dutch Design Daily

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BinnenhofBuiten thehague.com/partners/nl

BlowUP Art The Hague

By 04-10-2022

Five huge BlowUp objects will breathe new life into the experience of The Hague’s city centre for three weeks.

Colourful, grand and movable: five inflatable artworks add spectacular, temporary forms to monuments, statues and other sites of yesteryear. Through these colourful and sometimes funny interventions, you suddenly experience those everyday things as if they were new. This is how art works. This will not only be a feast for the residents of The Hague themselves, but also for visitors from (far) outside our city! The artworks are part of a walking route around the Binnenhof and the Museum Quarter. Free entrance for young and old: Sat 24 September to Thu 13 October.

Walking through art
All objects are ‘site specific’; created especially for these specific places by a selection of internationally working artists, some of whom are from The Hague. The temporary interventions in public space by Steve Messam (UK), Marleen Sleeuwits (The Hague), Adrianus Kundert (Berlin) and Larissa Ambachtsheer (The Hague) bring the familiar surroundings to life in a new way. For instance, Steve Masson transforms the harshness of the Gevangenpoort into a cheerfully bubbling embrace through which visitors can walk via a wooden bridge laid in the subway. Marleen Sleeuwits was surprised by the charm of the Koninklijke Schouwburg on Korte Voorhout. She fills the Schouwburg’s forecourt with a ‘Hague column order’ that visitors experience from different points of view, each time in a different way. Larissa Ambachtsheer’s intervention in Schoorsteenvegersstraat (next to Pulchri) sets a strikingly colourful counterpoint to the stateliness of Lange Voorhout.

Lange Vijverberg, Adrianus Kundert
Adrianus Kundert tells visual stories that seek to add substance to the world around us. Kundert’s fascination with fabrics is also visible in this artwork in the striped pattern on the small and larger tunnels that constantly changes in the wind. adrianuskundert.com

Schoorsteenvegersstraat, Larissa Ambachtsheer
‘Keep me in balance’ is a theme Larissa Ambachtsheer has previously developed in photographed still lifes. The images consist of stacks of spherical objects in precarious balance. Behind the colourful aesthetic are the hot topics of our time: the search for a conscious, minimalist lifestyle necessary for sustainable survival. larissaambachtsheer.com

Koninklijke Schouwburg, Marleen Sleeuwits
Marleen Sleeuwits is a successful multidisciplinary artist. In her work, she tries to fathom the characteristics of a place and then enhance them by inserting new elements. She cycled for days through The Hague to photograph columns. She adds that collection in all sorts of sizes and colours to the forecourt of the Royal Theatre. marleensleeuwits.nl

Tunnel by de Gevangenpoort, Steve Messam
Steve Messam is an English environmental artist who has created an international furore with inflatable art for many years. Sometimes his work is also called ‘bubbletecture’. Often larger than a house, Messam’s objects are monumental in a friendly way. With its unprecedented plastic form, ‘Tunnel’ provides a somewhat alienating commentary on the history of the Prison Gate.

Oranje op het Plein, Steve Messam 
The crown of the Statue of Liberty seems to have descended on the shoulders of William of Orange. Steve Messam created an airy but strong spatial gesture of green spikes moving seven metres above the Square in the wind. When the lights go on in the evening, the atmosphere around this temporary artwork is further enhanced. stevemessam.co.uk

View on The Hague in de Hofvijver, Rodrigues & Rijnierse
Sunset on Delft by Mike Rijnierse and Ludmila Rodrigues was previously shown in Delft. The artist duo from The Hague created a floating portrait of the sunset that invites visitors to walk around it and wonder what they are actually seeing while taking pictures. Sunset on Delft was inspired by Vermeer’s painting ‘View of Delft’ that hangs in the Mauritshuis.

BlowUp Art The Hague is a production of BinnenhofBuiten, a project of The Hague & Partners. BinnenhofBuiten organises events and activities during the renovation of the Binnenhof. 

The exhibition is curated by Mary Hessing of wothstudio.nl.

Photography: Pim Top, Marleen Sleeuwits, Jw Kaldenbach (portraits)