Hidden among thousands of bikes, under bridges or high in the trees. For some artworks in Groningen, you have to search a bit. We found eight surprising gems.
1. SECOND THOUGHT
Giny Vos' Second Thought hangs from the ceiling in the bike storage area under the station. A glass sphere with eleven Plexiglass plates inside show the contours of the main station above it. Vos drew her inspiration from the round holes in the storage area: ‘They all paint a different picture of the station above ground, but often from a strange perspective.’ The artwork itself gives another view of the station, an upside-down one.
2. MAN IN LOUNGER
The man is lying lazily in his chair. It overlooks the pond at Floresplein in the Korreweg district. Artist Hans Mes created the sculpture in 1984 for the revitalisation of the Indische buurt (‘Indies neighbourhood’). Because many addicts lived there at the time, Mes made a skinny man who looks like he’s addicted to drugs.
The slumped posture also refers to Dutch colonialism in the Dutch East Indies, where rich Dutchmen lay in their easy chairs on the veranda. The coin in the skinny hand of Mes' reclining man depicts their wealth. According to Mes, the similarity between the addict and the coloniser is that they both exploit something: one, the body and the other, the indigenous land.
3. SEVEN HOMMES NESTS
Surely the smallest works of art in this row are the seven bronze nests the size of footballs. The nests are high up in the trees in the Hommes Garden on Poortersplein near the UMCG. Those who look around at them in passing might think they are ordinary birds' nests, but the golden colour betrays that they are works of art. Instead of birds, they contain jewellery, keys and a fountain pen. When Margriet Diertens made the nests for the garden extension in 2008, these everyday objects were featured in the stories of the local residents she spoke to.
4. GATE TOWER CLIO
Anyone driving into Groningen from the A28 motorway will see an electricity tower on the left with seven flames on it. With the seven flames, American Kurt W. Foster is referring to the days of the week. On the first day, one flame burns and one is added every day. The flames also refer to all the gas in the Groningen soil. Furthermore, the mast displays the numbers '1040’, which light up every day at 10:40. These figures refer to the year 1040, when the city of Groningen was first mentioned in a document. Foster also refers to history with the title: Clio is the Greek muse of history.
5. CYCLING LESSON
Cycling. Once upon a time, we all had to learn how to do it. This child is getting his first cycling lesson, and his father is giving him a push. Kees Verkade's 1971 bronze sculpture, on Ubbo Emmiussingel near Hereplein, shows the uncertain steering of the small child on the big bicycle. Learning to ride a bike is simply a matter of falling and getting back up.
6. UNDER BRIDGES
As the Oosterbrug (‘East bridge’) rises steadily, H.N.'s poem Gestadige beweging (‘Steady Motion’) comes into view. The 1997 artwork by Peter de Kan can only be seen from Verlengde Oosterstraat, just past the Werkman Monument. Werkman was a Groningen artist famous mainly for his prints and cuttings. There is no logic or narrative to this sound poem; it is all about how words sound: Printa printo city typo.
7. STREET ROOMS
For those who have no problem with the cold and are fed up with their own living room, it is the perfect place. The television is ready, and the rug is inviting. But instead of soft fabric, everything is made of hard concrete. Just behind MartiniPlaza in the Corpus den Hoorn neighbourhood are three stone living rooms. Or Streetkamers (‘Street Rooms’), as artist Lena van der Wal calls them: ‘With my artwork, I wanted to create domestic meeting places so that local residents could visit each other on the street.’ Those who look closely can even find a concrete toy tractor.
8. FROG CYCLE
Hidden in one of Groningen's most beautiful spots is a set of cheerful sculptures. On the canal along Hoge der Aa, Jan Steen depicted the development of the frog in bronze. It’s no ordinary frog, instead a fanciful specimen sitting happily on a stone with a long beak.