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On Saturday, November 21, the day on which André van der Louw was installed in 1974 as mayor of Rotterdam, a new work by Herman Lamers was unveiled as a tribute to the former mayor. The statue of Herman Lamers has been placed in the Timmerhuis (to be delivered). After 11 December, the Timmerhuis is open to the public and the work of Lamers can be viewed by everyone.
The artwork that Lamers made was developed on the initiative of the Stichting Eerbetoon André van der Louw, which collected the necessary resources for this. Wil van der Louw and Carmen, Milan and Lucas van der Louw jointly unveiled the work in the Timmerhuis. Prior to that there was a speech by Hans Kombrink on behalf of the foundation. Siebe Thissen, head of BKOR, and Herman Lamers spoke briefly about the creation of the image, and the unveiling was musically framed by Harry Jan Bus. A street sign was also unveiled on November 21 and a symposium was held in the Burgerzaal of the town hall.
Sandra Smets (art historian and art critic for NRC Handelsblad, among others) wrote a text on behalf of BKOR about the method of Herman Lamers, and about his tribute to André van der Louw: “All in all, the image is an intriguing result for Van der Louw in an unexpected place. Designed for and with the location, the image can only function there, in that sense incomparable with the classical bronze figuration to which Lamers refers. ” The entire text can be read on the CBK Rotterdam website.
Van der Louw (1933 - 2005) was a Dutch politician and director, who became mayor of Rotterdam in 1974; he stayed that until 1981. Van der Louw was an accessible and beloved mayor and many people remember him. The initiative for the tribute program was taken by the Stichting Eerbetoon André van der Louw Foundation (Hans Kombrink, Jacqueline de Jong, Jan Cees van Duin, Nico van Eck, Koos van der Steenhoven) and the municipality of Rotterdam. The foundation worked closely with BKOR (a program from CBK Rotterdam); they asked visual artists Herman Lamers for this assignment, because his work often focuses on the context and location of an assignment. Lamers' work ranges from figurative to abstract spatial, and abstraction, realism and poetry often go together in both form and material choice. Lamers previously made the Giant of Rotterdam and the glass statues of the Angel in Zwolle.
With special thanks to
Foundation for the promotion of Volkskracht
Ph. Verhagen Foundation
Feijenoord NV stadium
Rotterdam Bankers' Association
Labour Party
Port of Rotterdam Authority
Municipality of Rotterdam
Arcadis
Tribute André van der Louw and many other companies and private donors who make this project possible.
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