New Seismo
Johan Tahon

sculptures, works on paper

14 – 29 March 2009

Belgian sculptor Johan Tahon (1965) has made a fourteen-metre-high sculpture for the Dutch Ministry of Finance, that was recently renovated by Meyer & Van Schooten Architects. The colossal sculpture stands in the covered atrium of the building and depicts a human figure, represented from the breast and resting on four legs. It is composed of a steel skeleton covered with plaster. The renovated ministry and the sculpture have been inaugurated by Queen Beatrix on March 12th 2009. The title New Seismo refers to the seismograph, through its four legs it registers the vibrations of the financial world as it were.

It is a kind of father figure of a superhuman size, bending forward slightly towards the visitor with a protective air. It brings a warm, human dimension into the ministry, which is usually associated with cool calculations and figures. In the gallery models and working drawings of New Seismo are to be seen, alongside related, man-sized plaster sculptures and smaller ceramic sculptures. A bronze edition of the sculpture will also appear soon. Parallel to this a model of New Seismo is shown in the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag as part of the exhibition XXth Century. (www.gemeentemuseum.nl)