Johan Simons

Johan Simons is a Dutch theatre maker with a major international reputation thanks to his monumental stagings and the passionate way in which his pieces express his great social commitment. Simons is continuously looking for what constitutes the core of these times and pulls out all the stops. The design is always daring, both visually and content-wise, with use being made of various arts, while contemporary issues are placed in the broad framework of human history. For Simons this history is pervaded with the individual’s longing to discover meaning in the world, to acquire power or indeed to bring down power systems. But, above all, the individual is searching for a way out of his loneliness.

This Sonsbeek exhibition marks the first time that Johan Simons is presenting himself as a visual artist. He has created a figure with on one side the appearance of an older man, as Simons is now. On the other side we see his face as a child of 7, but the body is now female. ‘You always carry your mother along with you, and yourself as child,’ writes Simons.

The figure sits in Sonsbeek Park on a large branch, occasionally falling forward with a thump and then slowly sitting up again. It symbolizes a fundamental anxiety - the fear of letting go and losing yourself or your life. But also of hope - each time we rise up again. Through the fire towards the light.

Johan Simons’ figure was borne during the Procession by the Guild of Cultural Organizations.