Sonsbeek is an outdoor sculpture exhibition founded in 1949, that takes place intermittently in Park Sonsbeek in
Arnhem
Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both banks of ...
, the Netherlands. It was originally meant to be a biennial exhibition, however it occurs on an irregular schedule.
Sonsbeek was initiated in an attempt to repair the heavy damage the city had suffered during the
Battle of Arnhem
The Battle of Arnhem was a battle of the Second World War at the vanguard of the Allied Operation Market Garden. It was fought in and around the Dutch city of Arnhem, the town of Oosterbeek, the villages Wolfheze and Driel and the vicinity fro ...
during the Second World War.
The 1949 inaugural exhibition featured over 200 sculptures that were installed along the park's pathways. It was attended by over 100,000 visitors.
The first instalment included artists such as
Auguste Rodin
François Auguste René Rodin (12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor, generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a uniqu ...
,
Henry Moore
Henry Spencer Moore (30 July 1898 – 31 August 1986) was an English artist. He is best known for his semi- abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. As well as sculpture, Moore produced ...
, and
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...
. Later exhibitions featured artists such as
Jenny Holzer
Jenny Holzer (born July 29, 1950) is an American neo-conceptual artist, based in Hoosick, New York. The main focus of her work is the delivery of words and ideas in public spaces and includes large-scale installations, advertising billboards, ...
,
Claes Oldenburg
Claes Oldenburg (January 28, 1929 – July 18, 2022) was a Swedish-born American sculptor, best known for his public art installations typically featuring large replicas of everyday objects. Another theme in his work is soft sculpture versions ...
and others.
The 1971 installment of the show was the most well known, and often criticized, of the Sonsbeek exhibitions.
In that installment, curator
Wim Bereem commissioned works outside the park, including
Robert Smithson's land-reclamation earthwork,
Broken Circle/Spiral Hill.
The 1993 installment was curated by Valerie Smith, and included the artists
Ann Hamilton,
Mike Kelley,
Annette Messager
Annette Messager (born 30 November 1943) is a French visual artist. In 2005 she won the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Biennale for her artwork at the French Pavilion. In 2016, she won the prestigious Praemium Imperiale International Arts Award. ...
and others.
Other curators have included
Jan Hoet
Knight Jan Hoet (; 23 June 1936 – 27 February 2014) was the Belgian founder of SMAK (''Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst'' or Municipal Museum for Contemporary Art) in Ghent, Belgium.
Biography
Jan Hoet was born in Leuven, Belgium. Throug ...
(2001), Saskia Bos (1986), and the Indonesian art collective,
Ruangrupa in 2016.
Sonsbeek 9, ''"Locus Focus"'' took place in 2011 in three venues, Sonsbeek Park, Eusebius church at a suburban shopping mall (Kronenburg).
The Sonsbeek 20→24 exhibition was slated to open in 2020, but was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
References
{{Reflist
External links
Sonsbeek Biennial Foundation
Outdoor sculptures
Public art
Art exhibitions in the Netherlands
Cultural festivals in the Netherlands