Art in Maasport

In August 2024, Maaspoort will be 40 years old. Over the past 40 years, Maaspoort has built up a fine art collection. Feel free to come and admire the collection. 

Fons Schobbers
urge'

The bronze sculpture Urge (meaning primal force) is 1 metre high, it was placed in the Maaspoort in 1986,( under the BKR scheme at the time), a powerful sculpture on a power spot of Venlo, culturally speaking.

Fons was born in Venlo in 1947. The youngest son in a family of 10 children, he knew early on that he was a doer, a maker. Only he did not yet know the word artist. After not finishing nursery school, Fons went to the Academy of Industrial Design in Eindhoven. He felt insecure at first, but in place. Slowly he wrestled his way free after a long boarding school period and out of the conservative business family. Defiant and headstrong, he eventually chose free artistry. In recent decades, Fons exhibited regularly at home and abroad. Among others in Berlage Art Fair Amsterdam, Art Fair Paris, TEFAF Maastricht, Botanic Garden Leicester, sculpture route boulevard Knokke, Singer Museum Laren and Museum van Bommel van Dam in Venlo.

Fons Schobbers
'Sphinx'

On loan from the Jacques and Ellen Scheuten Foundation.The Sphinx in Maaspoort is the original scale model of the 6-metre-high glass sculpture Sphinx. Sphinx preceded Tango and was a long-awaited dream. In 1993, Venlo celebrated its 650 years of city rights. On the occasion of this jubilee, Mr and Mrs Scheuten donated this unique glass sculpture to the city of Venlo. Twenty years later, after two floods of the Maas, this sculpture stood in all its glory between the Maas and Maasboulevard. It was October 2013.

Sphinx was composed of 6,000 unique glass plates, each 10 millimetres thick. The plates were attached together with a double self-adhesive uv-resistant film, which was specially designed for this purpose. The sculpture had a stunning appearance that incorporated the brilliance of the water of the Meuse River. Three months later, on 22 January 2014, Sphinx was completely dismantled due to safety reasons.

Fons Schobbers
'Sculptural bench, Elisabeth'

In 2017, the sculptural bench "Elisabeth" was installed, a sculpture in polyester that can also be used as a bench, a sculpture for interaction, communication, looking and feeling. The sculptural bench fits very well with the spatial architecture of Maaspoort, as do the 2 sculptural lamps on the second floor, with which the architect added a finishing touch. The hanging sculptures are challenging, unique and exclusive, a fitting concept in the right place.

Hans Reijnders
'Title'

24 August 1984 'title'- made by Bianca Carrara
Donated on the occasion of the opening of Maaspoort in August 1984. This was the first large sculpture made by Hans Reijnders. Inspiration came from his tours of Egypt after which he created several flat sculptures.

Amsterdam-born artist Hans Reijnders has work in (museum) collections from Venlo to China. His monumental sculptures are visible in public spaces from North Limburg to Japan. Hans has been working from his studio in Venlo for many years.

Fons Schobbers
'Tango'

To be able to design Tango after the drama of Sphinx in 2013-2014 says something about Venlo-based artist Fons Schobbers. He is a sky-rocket. His revolutionary ideas translate into huge sculptures. Sphinx was so innovative in its combination of design and material that the ravages of time quickly caught up with it. Tango is stronger than Sphinx. Tango's design is particularly challenging.

Twenty-five years later, in 2018, Venlo is celebrating 675 years of city rights. Scheuten takes the opportunity to fulfil his promise: to donate a sculpture to the city. The Jacques and Ellen Scheuten Foundation, seven additional sponsors, the Venlo municipality and the province made Tango possible. Tango is made of Corten steel. The sculpture is ten metres high and weighs 24 tonnes. The bright red coating matches the passion of a fiery tango dance. Tango's form is simple but continues to surprise the viewer. The study model TANGO made of steel, 1 metre high, was placed in Maaspoort in 2023 .This connects Maaspoort with the Sculpture Tango of 10 metres high that has been on the Maasboulevard since 2018. Tango's form appears simple but continues to surprise the viewer.

Sjaak Smetsers
'Sing softly and Good old days'

In 2015, these two beautiful and unique artworks by visual artist Sjaak Smetsers Maaspoort were acquired. The artworks have a prominent place in the Glenn Corneille foyer. The materials used are: silver bronze, bronze, copper and glass on Belgian bluestone on a base of Corten steel.

Galerie Moeëjen Daag is home to visual artist Sjaak Smetsers and his muse Lianne Sampers. Sjaak Smetsers' artworks enjoy an international reputation. Each artwork has unique characteristics. He combines or fuses glass, bronze, copper, Corten steel or stainless steel into typical Sjaak Smetsers creations. Characteristic are his craftsmanship and quality.

Thomas Rodr
'The Pianist'

1927 Czech Republic - 2011 Eindhoven

Augustinian priest, artist, philosopher
1953 Priestly ordination
1963 Graduated from the Jan van Eyck Academy Maastricht
Exhibitions over many years in Rome, Prague. The Hague, Amsterdam and others.

Glenn Corneille
'Portrait photo'

1970 Venlo - 2005 Laren

Pianist - Composer - Arranger - Producer of several Jazz and Pop Albums - Bandleader of national and international Artists - Principal study teacher at the Enschede Conservatory - Jazz critic

On TV known a.o. as team captain of the Tros Notenclub. For Maaspoort legendary for his Music Cafés.

Variety artist Glenn became one of the Netherlands' best and most versatile pianists, praised for his timing and dynamics and above all for his great talent for improvisation. Jazz - Salsa - Pop - Light Classical everywhere lay his heart.

1995 Summa Cum Laude in Jazz and Light Music at the Maastricht Academy of Music
1997 Cum Laude Performing Musician
2000 Best New Talent at North Sea Jazz
2006 Founding Glenn Corneille Young Talent Award and first presentation

Tom Seerden
'Akragas'

Akragas is an acheological site in Agrigento in Sicily in Italy. The sculpture was made of bronze and granite.

Tom Seerden was born in Heel and Panheel in 1957
1976 - 1982 Teacher training Tehatex Nijmegen
1982 - 1984 Academy of Visual Arts Arnhem
Working as an artist since 1984
Tom Seerden lives and works in Kessel and Controguerra (Italy)

akragas' was donated by Aannemersbedrijf Jongen Venlo BV

Joannes Bapist Lambert Simon
'Title'

1909 Den Helder - 1987 Nieuwegein | Painter, sculptor, muralist, draughtsman, glazier

This work was presented as a staff gift in 1960 to the management of Vroom & Dreesman Venlo in connection with its remodelling and expansion. The work was stored in the municipal archives after the bankruptcy of V&D in 2015. Since 2020, this artwork has been transferred to Maaspoort. This glass composition depicts the mythical story of Valuas in 3 scenes:

1. Led by Valuas, the Brukteren defeat the Angrivarieans.

The city arms of Venlo.

2. Fire sacrifices on the Lichtenberg in honour of Valuas.

The founders of the city - Valuas and Guntruud.

3. The Akkermans' guild moves out.

Frans Boermans
bust'

1917 - 1999 | Composer - lyricist - playwright

The Venlo native Frans Boermans wrote in dialect and has numerous works to his name that are now part of Limburg's cultural heritage. He is considered one of the greatest Limburg lyricists of the 20th century.

Awards
1971 Limburg Culture Prize
1978 Bronze Daily Flyer
1984 Venlo Citizen of the Year
1989 Venlo medal of honour
1997 Jo Hansen Prize
1999 Venlo Citizen of the Century

Jacqueline Bozon
'Diverse work'

Jacqueline Bozon (Helmond, 1 March 1966) grew up in Helmond (NB), where she still lives. In her youth, she liked to draw a lot, but the world of art is on another planet. Becoming an artist is therefore unthinkable for her; there is no future in that anyway, according to her father. So no art academy for Jacqueline, but PABO, which she successfully completed in 1988. Still, although she enjoyed teaching, the desire for art never left her. She starts with murals in children's rooms; at home, she paints her emotions on canvas. She becomes increasingly enthusiastic and teaches herself all kinds of techniques, which soon make her grow in her art. To develop it even further, she attends the Academy of Fine Arts (B). In 2003, she takes a year's unpaid leave to devote herself passionately to painting. When she graduates from the Academy in 2005, she takes the plunge and says goodbye to teaching for good after 17 years. Since then, she has been intensely busy painting, finding inspiration, learning and studying. During her travels, she becomes enormously inspired by different cultures and her life experiences give her her own special perspective on life, which she reflects in her canvases. Motto in her work is "the art of seeing without thinking and not thinking that one sees".

Dick Schoenmakers
'Various photographs'

Born 1963 in Venlo, the Netherlands. A storytelling fine-art pixel painter, Dick creates images that inspire, provoke thought and evoke memories.