Zaanstad
this sculpture to be
Zaanstad is the home of Victory. The forty-four meter wide painted steel sculpture by Lucien den Arend inhabits the void under highway A8. In the sixties this highway was projected through the heart of the Dutch town Koog aan de Zaan, now part of Zaanstad.
Before, this location was a repulsive place devoid of any quality - the view of the River Zaan being blocked by the concrete piers. It was for this reason four artists were commissioned to make proposals. Lucien den Arend concluded that the only thing to do was to introduce a sculptural element, so large that this degraded location would be overruled by it. At the same time this work forms a belated protest to the ruthless invasion of the sixties.
victory - 1984-87 - painted steel - Zaanstad - The Netherlands