Threesome 2014

imploded stainless steel

Ewerdt Hilgemann masters the art of imploding like no other. A technique in which you suck the air out of a mold with great force in a short time. A technique that has become his trademark. High-quality stainless steel sculptures, in various shapes, whereby a new shape is created by imploding. This requires knowledge of the technology and of the material, because how does the original shape bend to create the new shape? His fascination with metal started as a very young child during the war. On the rare occasions when they were allowed out of the bomb shelter, the only toys were the metal splinters left behind after a bombing raid, like traces of war. Ewerdt collected them in a box, which he still has in his possession. The reflective stainless steel shows the light, the air, yourself, but also the environment.

Originally Hilgemann started working on sculptures consisting of natural stone and steel. In the eighties, he introduced working with natural forces and coincidences. To his surprise, Hilgemann noticed that the unpredictable also belongs to the natural laws and can be even partly controlled. In 2014 Ewerdt Hilgemann was invited by the Parc Avenue Sculpture committee to work for three months on the central reservation of Park Avenue in New York.

The sculpture group ‘Threesome’ was made especially for that exhibition. In 2020 the Kröller Müller Museum in Otterlo dedicated a solo exhibition to this special artist under the title ‘Ewerdt Hilgemann – Work in progress 1959-2020’. Due to the COVID-19 problem, this was extended until autumn of the same year. The museum also acquired six works by the artist. At the Art in Oisterwijk exhibition, both sculpture groups connect with the dynamic environment of its center. Placed near the road and on the edge of the sidewalk, they show the dynamism and human scale of Oisterwijk at its best!