Artwork Data

Title

Variant op ring III

Artist

Hans Kleyweg

Year

1985

Material

steen, granito

Dimensions

h. 175 cm

Artwork Location

Address

Allard Piersonlaan, Den Haag

City district

Laak

GPS data

52.057398103703, 4.3268705941955 View on map

Artwork Description

Text

When it was placed, local residents called this granite sculpture by Hans Kleyweg 'seals making love'. Remarkable as everyone is always inclined to see something recognisable in an abstract sculpture. Actually, it is not so strange that two figures were recognised in this sculpture. The artist has in fact placed two identical forms mirrored against each other. This was usually also his starting point: two elements that formed a field of tension with each other. This sculpture is the third variation on his well-known 'Ring' and Granito no. 9, in which you can also discover two mirrored forms.

Variant on Ring III' was chosen by the local residents. They had not been satisfied with the sculpture proposed by the municipality and were then allowed to choose a work from the municipal depot. This was where the collection stood that had been acquired through the visual artists' scheme (BKR), a benefit system whereby artists supplied work to the government in return for a six-monthly fee. The eye fell on the 'Free Seals' and two years later the sculpture was given its rightful place in the park.

The self-taught Kleyweg started his career with such abstract sculptures, but gradually started making more and more women's torsos. A development that is not so obvious. For him, however, abstract and figurative are not that far apart. For Kleyweg it's all about the tension in the form, whether it's two abstract elements or a woman's body.

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