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They are each other's opposites, the gates of the Kortenbos neighbourhood park on Sirtemastraat dating from 1987. They stand far apart on the north and south sides of the park. Round forms dominate in the one, angular in the other. And yet - when you cross the park - it is clear that the gates belong together. They are of the same scale, both are built up from large blocks of pink granite and have been treated with great restraint and respect for the stone. They must have originated from the same brain.

Nout Visser is the maker. This sculptor from The Hague gained great fame in the 1980s with his stone objects, which have been placed throughout the country. Before that time he worked in copper, bronze, steel and wood.
In 'Dagblad Zaanstreek' of 28 December 1992 he says about his stone sculptures: Stone is beautiful in itself. Many of my objects consist of little more than a column and a block. For me, the beauty of the material is already half the work of art'. That certainly applies to the southern park gate. A triangle balances on the two enormous rectangular pillars, as if a giant had been playing with his block of stone. Some of the stone has been left rough. Other parts have been polished or drilled into. This creates contrasts that give a lively effect.

Contrasts are essential to Visser. They can be contrasts within the object, such as differences in surface area, but also contrasts between the object and its surroundings. And the latter is the case with the southern gate. Visser placed a striking element in the park in the city, which emphatically marks the transition from the built environment to the greenery.