Ernst Hazenbroek, 'Placebo', 1994

Ernst Hazenbroek, Placebo, 1994
Location: The Hague City Center: Spui - Grote Marktstraat - Kalvermarkt

Massive steel plate sculptures, ranging from eight to fifteen meters tall, painted in bold colors—these are the works Ernst Hazenbroek (1954) created in the late 1980s and early 1990s for two roundabouts in the municipalities of Amersfoort and Alphen aan den Rijn. These robust sculptures were made in a massive warehouse and, contrary to traditional construction principles and gravity, were built from the top down. Hazenbroek cuts steel plates into pieces, hoists the different sections with cranes, and adjusts them until he finds the right composition. This process is similar to making a collage from cardboard, except the material is much heavier and difficult to handle alone.

In these two works by Hazenbroek, the connection to the sculptures of David Smith (1906–1965) and Anthony Caro (1924) is immediately recognizable. These renowned American sculptors gained fame in the 1950s and 1960s with abstract sculptures constructed from steel.

However, over the past ten to fifteen years, the direct influence of these American abstract expressionist sculptors has been much less evident in Hazenbroek's work. For these more recent sculptures, he uses the cylinder as a starting point. He slices the cylinder into sections and uses the resulting curls to create appendages that are bent in various directions. The pedestal sculpture is also based on a cylinder. It has been diagonally sliced and unfolded into an abstract, vertical still life. The impossible thickness of the cylinder and the resistance of the material are clearly visible, yet Hazenbroek has managed to bend it to his will.