Jan Snoeck, 'La nostalgie de la lumière totale', Paul Eluard, 2000

Jan Snoeck, La nostalgie de la lumière totale, Paul Eluard, 2000
Location: Center of The Hague: Spui - Grote Marktstraat - Kalvermarkt

Recognizable and accessible, these are the images of Jan Snoeck (1927). Everyone knows his worm-shaped figures. Throughout his career, he has created many of these on the squares and streets of our country. In the beginning, Snoeck made sculptures from stone, wood, and metal. Sometimes these were abstract sculptures, but sometimes also nearly figurative ones, like his 'Rasp' in The Hague. Since the 1960s, he has worked in clay. The sculptor switched to this material because he wanted to work with color.

Characteristic of the visual language that Snoeck has developed is its simplicity. He reduces everything to its essence. For this inspiration, Snoeck looks at archaic Greek and Egyptian sculpture. Additionally, he feels a kinship with ancient American civilizations. In the textiles, paintings, and prints created by Snoeck, you find a similar visual language as in his sculptures: soft, clear forms and often primary colors.

As soon as Snoeck began working with clay, a theme emerged that has remained a constant thread throughout his work: the worm. This shape also appears in his pedestal sculptures. The worm is the most rudimentary form you can create in clay. It is a primal form that, for Snoeck, refers to both humanity and the divine. Just like humans, worms lie, stand, sit, and walk. The worm in this pedestal sculpture is comfortably seated in a chair.

For his pedestal sculpture, the artist chose the poetic title La nostalgie de la lumière totale (literally: "the nostalgia of total light"). This is a line from a poem by Snoeck's beloved French writer/poet Paul Eluard. As in his other works, for Snoeck, this pedestal sculpture ultimately revolves around the essence of humanity.