STONE

The exhibition STONE provides an overview of modern and contemporary stone sculpture. It demonstrates how stone, from monumental memorials to intimate portraits, from abstract forms to conceptual experiments, remains an inexhaustible source of meaning and is continually rediscovered and renewed. In a highly digitalized world, STONE offers a powerful tribute to the tangibility, craftsmanship, and transcendent power of stone carving.
 

Stone is one of the oldest and most significant materials in sculpture. Over the centuries, it has evolved into a symbol of durability, strength, and human imagination. 

The exhibition STONE explores the versatile spectrum of stone sculpture in the period since World War II. This period marks a dynamic transition from tradition to experimentation, from monument and figuration to abstraction and conceptual art. 

While the post-war reconstruction years were still dominated by collective memory and monumental commissions, new artistic expressions emerged in parallel, using stone as a carrier of personal, spiritual, and philosophical meanings. Craftsmanship and conceptual innovation have intertwined for decades, as seen in the work of various national and international artists in this exhibition.

STONE brings together 35 artists from different generations and continents, each exploring, questioning, and redefining stone as a symbol and material from their own cultural background and time period. What unites the artists in this exhibition is their fascination with stone as a medium and as a conceptual instrument. 

Stone serves as a metaphor for the body, for the landscape, spirituality, and memory. Sculptors experiment with tactility and monumentality; they explore the physical and sensory qualities of stone and investigate the role of the material in depicting human, natural, and spiritual themes. At the same time, the meaning of stone proves to be fluid: each period, artist, and culture brings forth new interpretations.

STONE showcases the work of national and international masters of modern sculpture born between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, including Hans Arp, Louise Bourgeois, Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore, Isamu Noguchi, Jan Meefout, and Mari Andriessen.  

Through four themes – Human Image, Nature & Cosmos, Construction & Concept, Spirituality & Ritual – it becomes evident how these pioneers of the twentieth century have influenced subsequent generations. Sculptors like Barry Flanagan, Anish Kapoor, Ulrich Rückriem, Seung-taek Lee, Alicia Kwade, Alma Allen, and Femmy Otten demonstrate that the material stone continues to inspire new and conceptual ways of working to this day.

Curator: Brigitte Bloksma