Untitled (1983) Bert Meinen
In front of the former Hoogvliet fire station there is a work of art that functions as a marker. The sculpture by artist Bert Meinen has a strong signal function with its red stripes and height. His was chosen from eighteen proposals by various artists. The object was created in the percentage scheme in the construction of the fire station which was built in 1983. The art application had to meet the desire to integrate visual art and environmental art, so that urban development, architecture and green design could coincide. Meinen's design on Middenbaan Noord is an autonomous visual art object, which originally fitted well with the architecture of the building and the fire brigade red paint. Nowadays, the social enterprise 'Waste pays' is located in the building and the appearance has changed to various shades of green - as a result, the artwork is less in keeping with the environment.
Bert Meinen (Hengelo, 1945) attended the art academy (AKI) in Enschede and established himself as a sculptor and draftsman. He has made abstract objects for various places in the country, which often consist of stainless steel poles and spheres with one or more contrasting colors. He also showed his minimal art in galleries and exhibition spaces.