Tom Claassen – het bed (the bed) (2021/2024)

A life-size figure sits on an enlarged bed, legs dangling. Tom Claassen (b. 1964, lives and works in Breda) makes no attempt to disguise the fact that this work involves a human figure and a wooden sculpture. The bark is still on the tree trunks, and the figure clearly has arms, legs and a head. It is typical of Claassen’s work: clear forms, few details, one kind of material, usually in a large format.

Many people will already be familiar with Claassen’s work in the public space. Countless works by this artist can be seen throughout the Netherlands. One of the best-known examples is the concrete herd of elephants beside the A6/A27 near Almere. Other works that can be considered ‘public favourites’ in the Netherlands are De Koninginnen (2019), two gold-coloured lionesses draped over a lamppost in Breda, the cast-iron horse on Amsterdamsestraatweg in Utrecht (1996) and the two Sitting Men (2000) at Schiphol Airport. Museum visitors will also have encountered Claassen’s Rocky Lumps II (2021) in the sculpture garden at the Kröller-Müller Museum.

The power of Claassen’s work lies in the simplicity of the abstract forms. He always goes in search of the essence of a form; recognisable but, above all, not too true to life. This lends many of his sculptures an endearing appearance; they simply stand beside a road as if they have suddenly been deposited there. His ‘wooden men’ are sometimes more ominous, lying on the ground or dangling from a hook as the weather slowly makes them decay. This is also true of the wooden figure on the bed at De Oude Warande. He sits proudly upright on the bed as if he might stand up at any moment and disappear into the trees.

For STATIONS, Claassen has made a new work, Beanship (2021), and he is also presenting an existing sculpture, Jo, untitled (standing rabbit) (2019), one of the iconic animals he has often depicted, in many materials and poses. This particular specimen seems curious to explore its surroundings. This lovable sculpture became the favorite of the audience.
Beanship is, for Claassen, a very abstract, mirror-smooth sculpture, and is made of hammered brass. It is based on an upper leg and a pelvis, which lends the work an erotic connotation. With its organic and natural shape, reminiscent of the natural contours of a woman’s body without being figurative, it is also a tribute to the world-renowned sculptor Henry Moore.

Jo, zonder titel (standing rabbit) was purchased by Museum Voorlinden.