Artwork Data

Title

Sheet with frame

Artist

Lon Pennock

Year

1987

Material

cortenstaal

Dimensions

245 cm

Artwork Location

Address

Sinjeur Semeynsweg, Den Haag

City district

Laak

GPS data

52.051658431559, 4.3184908317383 View on map

Artwork Description

Text

A seemingly simple image: a frame resting on a pillar. The slightest sigh would cause the frame to topple, were it not for the fact that it is welded in place. The work is taut, geometric, but at the same time playful due to its delicate balance.
Sheet with frame' is the work of Lon Pennock from The Hague. When he designed it, he was looking for absolute simplicity, in form and relation to space. Remarkable is that subtle balance that borders on the impossible, like in 'Intersection' in Kijkduin.

During his studies, Pennock was already looking for a new design as a reaction to the expressionist art of the fifties. Pennock was inspired by artists such as Brancusi, whose idiosyncratic vision gave new impulses to sculpture. One important aspect was that they made their sculptures directly on the ground, without a pedestal, so that the work became part of the environment.

Also significant was the introduction to American Minimal Art, which was presented in the Netherlands in the early 1960s. Its distinguishing features were the large scale, the austere design, the repetitive character and the industrial materials and colours. Pennock was attracted to the impersonal, objective character of the works.
Pennock, who has played a significant role in the Dutch art climate, has never been a 'die hard' minimalist, however. He intuitively determined the dimensions and proportions of his work. That size had to remain human: you had to be able to stumble over it, as it were.

Nevertheless, his work often came across as distant. In order to alleviate this impression, Pennock later also allowed for chance in the design phase, and used more tangible materials such as rough chunks of stone. Steel did return, but the works became less heavy and monumental through the use of grids and arches. What remained was the subtle balance.

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