Artwork Data
Title
Variant op ring III
Artist
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.