In 1988, visual artist Cor Dam was commissioned by the board of housing association 'Voor het huisfamilie' to make six art objects that could be placed in the neighborhood as landmarks. The housing association celebrated its 75th anniversary and the six steel plastics were a gift to the residents of the district. The available budget was very limited, so Dam designed an object that could be made from two Corten steel plates of 200 x 100 cm, which he placed at right angles to each other. The six objects are therefore very similar, but they all differ slightly in shape. Initially, the sculptures were not painted, but the residents preferred to paint the rust-brown objects with a striking colour. Over the years, the works have been given various paint jobs. In 2018, at the request of Stichting De Witte Bollen, this object was relocated on a roundabout in Ommoord and painted by artist Tom Waakop Reijers in red, blue and yellow. There are now three painted steel sculptures by Cor Dam on three roundabouts of President Rooseveltweg. The steel sculptures are managed by Stichting De Witte Bollen, a foundation led by Peter Buisman that is committed to the management and maintenance of a number of works of art in Ommoord.
Cor Dam (Delft, 1935 – Delft, 2019) was educated at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague, decorative department. He then studied sculpture at the architecture department of the Delft University of Technology, under extraordinary professor (and sculptor) Oswald Wenckebach. Dam was not only a sculptor, but also a painter, draftsman and monumental artist. After his studies he worked from 1950 to 1969 as a ceramist and designer at De Porceleyne Fles in Delft. He made almost non-figurative designs, many wavy lines, initially organic in which he said he still recognized human figures. He already made grand gestures back then, which later becomes even more apparent in both monumental work and late free objects. In 2004 Dam has another exhibition in a gallery in Woudrichem with images that move between figuration and abstraction and are built up of large robust forms. In bronze, wood and ceramics, his sculptures are about color, structure, skin and matter with some main shapes such as triangles, rectangles and lines. He has also worked as a painter and draftsman and has been a teacher at TU Delft since 1988.
Gift from housing association 'Voor het huisfamilie'
Owner
Municipality of Rotterdam
About the artwork
In 1988, visual artist Cor Dam was commissioned by the board of housing association 'Voor het huisfamilie' to make six art objects that could be placed in the neighborhood as landmarks. The housing association celebrated its 75th anniversary and the six steel plastics were a gift to the residents of the district. The available budget was very limited, so Dam designed an object that could be made from two Corten steel plates of 200 x 100 cm, which he placed at right angles to each other. The six objects are therefore very similar, but they all differ slightly in shape. Initially, the sculptures were not painted, but the residents preferred to paint the rust-brown objects with a striking colour. Over the years, the works have been given various paint jobs. In 2018, at the request of Stichting De Witte Bollen, this object was relocated on a roundabout in Ommoord and painted by artist Tom Waakop Reijers in red, blue and yellow. There are now three painted steel sculptures by Cor Dam on three roundabouts of President Rooseveltweg. The steel sculptures are managed by Stichting De Witte Bollen, a foundation led by Peter Buisman that is committed to the management and maintenance of a number of works of art in Ommoord.
Cor Dam (Delft, 1935 – Delft, 2019) was educated at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague, decorative department. He then studied sculpture at the architecture department of the Delft University of Technology, under extraordinary professor (and sculptor) Oswald Wenckebach. Dam was not only a sculptor, but also a painter, draftsman and monumental artist. After his studies he worked from 1950 to 1969 as a ceramist and designer at De Porceleyne Fles in Delft. He made almost non-figurative designs, many wavy lines, initially organic in which he said he still recognized human figures. He already made grand gestures back then, which later becomes even more apparent in both monumental work and late free objects. In 2004 Dam has another exhibition in a gallery in Woudrichem with images that move between figuration and abstraction and are built up of large robust forms. In bronze, wood and ceramics, his sculptures are about color, structure, skin and matter with some main shapes such as triangles, rectangles and lines. He has also worked as a painter and draftsman and has been a teacher at TU Delft since 1988.
