BlowUp Art The Hague

Four temporary artworks have been specially designed by Marcel Wanders, Job Smeets, Studio Mieke Meijer and Sigrid Calon. The special floating garden with water features will be realised by students 'Urban Green Development' (Yuverta) led by ecological landscape designer Deborah Treep and artist Frank Bruggeman.

For the third edition, Mary Hessing, the curator of BlowUp Art The Hague, selected four renowned Dutch design luminaries:

• Studio Job
• Marcel Wanders
• Studio Mieke Meijer
• Sigrid Calon

Dutch Design has been exploring unconventional solutions, sustainability and the narrative potential of products, objects and furniture since the early 1990s.

Suske and Wiske, Gerrit Rietveld, Biedermeier or Elvis Presley can be subjects of design. There is no distinction between high and low culture for Job Smeets, whose surreal subject choices are transcended by the expressive power of formats, materials and precision in finishing. Studio Job's approach resembles that of an artisanal Renaissance atelier.

Marcel Wanders came into the limelight mainly because of his Knotted Chair and placed himself in the avant-garde of Dutch design. Ambitious as a designer and entrepreneur, Wanders went further; he founded the innovative furniture and interior design brand Moooi, which enjoys great international recognition. Today, he lives and works in Milan.

Working at the intersection of architecture and design, Eindhoven-based Studio Mieke Meijer has developed an impressive body of Space Frame light objects. The studio of Mieke Meijer and Roy Letterlé strives for sustainable design solutions that reflect the logic of construction and respect material properties, while pushing the boundaries.

Originally a textile designer, Sigrid Calon enjoys working with graphic and highly colourful patterns, which she ceaselessly varies and repeats. Her minimalism results in vivid sometimes even humorous visual mathematics, which continues to intrigue and captivate. Calon creates entire worlds out of dots and dashes.

Floating garden

Inspired by a workshop led by visual artist Frank Bruggeman, second-year students in the 'Urban Green Development' program at Yuverta, led by Deborah Treep, developed a plan for a floating garden featuring exciting water features and clusters of willows. Landscape architect Natascha van den Ban translated these broad strokes into a detailed design. During the planting process, the students are assisted by the City Nursery of The Hague and Engelsman Landscapers.

Previous artists

International artists, designers and architects who have previously participated in BlowUp Art Den Haag: Steve Messam (UK), Marleen Sleeuwits (NL), Ludmilla Rodrigues and Mike Rijnierse (BR/NL), Adrianus Kundert (NL/DE), Larissa Ambachtsheer (NL), Paul Cournet (FR/NL), Raw Color (DE/NL), Lambert Kamps (NL), Yamuna Forzani (IT/UK/NL), Theo Botschuijver (NL).

BlowUpcino

End your visit to BlowUp Art with a delicious cappuccino topped with an artisanal rainbow meringue and be surprised by the taste. The BlowUpcino is available at: Luden, Dudok, Vienna Konditorei, Koninklijke Schouwburg, Pathé Buitenhof and Stationshuiskamer Den Haag CS. Share this colourful experience on Instagram with #blowupartdenhaag.

BinnenhofBuiten

BlowUp Art The Hague 2024 is curated and produced by Mary Hessing for BinnenhofBuiten, which organises activities during the renovation of the Binnenhof on behalf of The Hague & Partners.

Disclaimer

BlowUpArt takes its shape by blowing air into a shell of coated textile. The flexible and light material offers all the freedom to adapt a work of art to the shapes of a statue or building. Yet the artworks are in no way constructively connected to the monuments.