"Blow Up Art Den Haag" Netherland Sees Inflatable Artworks by Steve Messam Adding Colorful Excitement to the Historical Site

Project ‘Blow Up Art Den Haag’ sees international artists creating temporary inflatable artworks in the streets of The Hague, The Netherlands. From September 24, 2022 till October 13, visitors are invited to follow a walking route around the museum district of the city to discover the pieces in a mixture of prime historical locations and hidden corners. All objects were made especially for the place by international and Dutch artists: Steve Messam, Marleen Sleeuwits, Adrianus Kundert and Larissa Ambachtsheer. Steve Messam, an environmental artist pioneering with inflatable art, has created two temporary objects in one of the most historical places of the city.

Tunnel - an installation in the 15th Cenntury Gevangenpoort, The Hague. Photo credit: Pim Top / Hague & Partners

‘Oranje’

Statue Willem van Oranje on the Plein x Steve Messam 

The work consists of a series of inflatable spikes around the statue of William I in the main square outside the parliament building. A major landmark statue in the city, William I is the founder of the Netherlands as an independent country. The large green spikes temporarily transform the monument and change the energy of the surrounding square in an almost surreal gesture.

…like the crown of the Statue of Liberty has landed on, and embraced, the statue of Willem van Oranje, who is portrayed as a fervent advocate of civil and religious freedom. Steve Messam’s frivolous intervention adds an exiting colourful touch to the honourable statue and the Plein. When the lights come on at night, the dialogue is even more playful.

Mary Hessing, Curator 

Oranje - an installation around the statue of William I in the Hague,
Photo credit: Pim Top / Hague & Partners

‘Tunnel’

De Gevangenpoort(Prisoners Gate)x Steve Messam

Dating from the 15th century, the Gevangenpoort was once the main gateway into the Binnenhof (now the Houses of Parliament), and the most infamous prison in Holland. In the 1920s, the buildings to one side of the gateway were demolished to create a wider road for the increase in traffic and subsequent trams.

Tunnel - an installation by Steve Messam through the Gevangenpoort in The Hague, Netherlands. Photo credit: Pim Top / Hague & Partners

‘Tunnel’ reimagines that sense of gateway, the artwork passing through the archway, gripping the architecture by air pressure alone. The sense of passage is further explored by inviting visitors to pass through the artwork as a more restricted and intimate space. The organic bulbous forms at either end suggest an oozing of the piece through the gateway and contrast with the strict geometric lines of the architecture, while the colour echoes the verdigris roofs around the square.

About Steve Messam

Steve Messam is an environmental artist based in County Durham, UK and working internationally. His ephemeral site-specific installations re-imagine the everyday, interrupting historical places and vacant architecture to help us perceive the familiar environment in a new way.

Working on a scale that is typically ‘bigger than a house’, his works explore the colour and scale of place. His inflatable textile works include a suite of pieces that filled historic ruins in a Scottish castle gardens and wrapped a seating shelter in Blackpool.

Other works include ‘PaperBridge’ (2015) -  a functioning packhorse bridge made from 22,000 sheets of paper in the Lake District; and ‘Clad’ (2009) - a traditional timber-framed cottage wrapped in the fleece of 300 local sheep in Newtown, Wales. He created the first off-site installation at the 2006 Shanghai Biennial, and created a number of site-specific installations across the Venetian Lagoon during the 2009 Venice Biennale.