Text

Apart from free work, Adri Blok also made a number of striking sculptures that have been placed in public spaces. In 1968, for instance, she made a sculpture of poet, singer and artist Koos Speenhoff. Blok portrays the colourful artist with his inseparable guitar and dressed in a neat jacket, exactly as the songwriter appeared on the Dutch stages during his glory years.
Speenhoff's statue is illustrative of the figurative images of people that Blok created. She preferred to depict people with a characteristic attribute in their hands. Speenhoff is characterised by the guitar that he caresses. The drummer', placed in 1958 in Rotterdam at the Lijnbaan promenade, is characterised by the drum he beats with his flat palms.

The boyish Rotterdam drummer and the 'Girl with a Basket' could be brother and sister. Imperturbable, both surrender to the actions they perform. For the girl scanning the square on the corner of Leyweg and Oosterhesselenstraat, the basket is to the drummer what the guitar is to Speenhoff. She is completely absorbed in her activities. Blok has depicted her in a way that gives the impression of being a snapshot: half in a walking motion, head slightly tilted forward, searching.
Although she sometimes depicted her human figures in a slightly stylised way, Blok spent most of her life working in the figurative tradition. Recognisability and lifelike quality were her main concerns. Essential was her preference for people who follow their goal with devotion and dedication.