Auke de Vries is one of the best known Dutch sculptors working today. In 2000-2001 YSP presented Living in Trees, an exhibition of de Vries’s work in the Pavilion Gallery and outdoors. In the months leading up to the show he spent time at the Park and was especially drawn to the trees. He carefully watched their shapes and movements in the wind, making sketches to record their mood, lines and gestures. The Watchtower was made as a response to these observations and speaks directly to this place.

The artist’s childhood in The Hague during World War II sparked his lifelong fascination with watchtowers. Although historically connected to conflict, in de Vries’s interpretation this lookout has a more benevolent and colourful presence. It could be a way to peer across borders, watch, listen and enjoy the view. With its tall stem, the sculpture itself resembles a tree reaching into the sky. At the top a series of boxes form a treehouse-like structure with windows onto the landscape. An intriguing and inaccessible nest-like space, it could be home to birds or an unseen presence that watches us from above.

The artist’s sculptures are typically composed of geometric shapes that appear to float weightlessly in air. He also draws on the flat, open plains of his native Holland, always seeking to connect his artwork to the environment or landscape.

De Vries (b.1937) lives and works in the Netherlands. He studied painting at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague and was a painter and graphic designer before turning to sculpture in the 1970s. He has exhibited internationally and his work has been commissioned for many public spaces, including in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Barcelona.