DRÉ WAPENAAR

(DUTCH, BORN 1961)

Treetent, 2005
canvas, wood, powdered coated steel, ed. 2
240 x 96 x 96 inches
Laumeier Sculpture Park Collection, with funds from the Mark Twain Laumeier Endowment Fund

Dré Wapenaar’s Treetent, 2005, plays with both the natural forms of habitation built by species that share our world and the abstracted forms of home we humans construct. At first glance, Wapenaar’s Treetent is a reminder of childhood camping holidays. Its high-tech/low-tech feel conjures a bird’s nest or a bug’s pod, as well as the luxury products found in camping equipment catalogs. 

Wapenaar’s tent, however, is originally inspired by the Road Alert Group, a team of British activists who chained themselves to giant trees due to be cut down to make way for highways. Wapenaar finds a new expressive skin for shelter out of the social storm of city expansion, habitat loss and urban renewal.

Sculpture Interaction Guideline: Please take care when interacting with this artwork. Limit 3 persons at a time.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Dré Wapenaar attended the Academy of Visual Arts from 1981 to 1986 in Tilburg, The Netherlands. Known for his tent-like sculptures, he has exhibited extensively throughout Europe and the United States at institutions including the Gallery Lia Rumma, Milan; the Museum De Fundatie, Heino/Wijhe, The Netherlands; the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, North Adams; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam; and Gallery Surge, Tokyo. Wapenaar participated in the Liverpool Biennial International, 2002, United Kingdom.