Outset Netherlands supported the production of two new foam sculptures by Roger Hiorns, which were part of the artist's first solo museum exhibition in the Netherlands. The works were subsequently donated to the collection of De Hallen, Haarlem, which allowed a first representation by Roger Hiorns' work in a collection of contemporary art in the Netherlands.
From December 2012 to February 2013 De Hallen Haarlem was presenting English artist Roger Hiorns' first solo museum exhibition in the Netherlands. Hiorns gained wide recognition with his spectacular work Seizure (2008): a titillating transformation of a London working-class house, which was nominated for the Turner Prize. For this monumental work he had the house’s entire interior covered with copper sulphate crystals; the visitor entered a sparkling, fairytale world. De Hallen Haarlem showed the sculptor’s recent and new work. Simultaneously there was a solo presentation by Joseph Beuys that traced the historical roots of Hiorns’ work.
Like a contemporary alchemist Roger Hiorns (Birmingham, 1975) works with unexpected natural materials. The use of fickle and uncontrollable materials like copper sulphate, brain matter and fire typifies Hiorns’s practice. For him a sculpture is never a static object, but always in motion – the idea of 'transformation' is central to many of his works.
For the exhibition in De Hallen Haarlem Hiorns has created a large group of new sculptures, that was being supplemented by a selection of his recent works. The new works showed a great variety in materials (aircraft engines, kitchen tables, park benches) and aesthetic approaches, while simultaneously sharing a common denominator. They were all connected by the occasional presence of a naked boy, who 'activated' the lifeless sculptures by taking a seat on them. Hiorns also created subtle connections to symbolic locations in Haarlem outside of the museum. The exhibition thus invisibly propelled itself into the public arena.
