Guido Geelen

The sound of trickling water draws the visitor, almost automatically, to the tall bronze sculpture along the edge where the terrace and garden meet. The work consists of a jumble of ropes that look as though they have been hung to dry after being immersed in a dye bath. On the outer sides of these tangles, casting channels protrude at regular intervals. They provide structure and ground the work to its spot.

The commission that De Pont granted Guido Geelen comprised two parts. The sculpture needed to refer to the wool-spinning mill that was formerly housed in the building. And in the garden, there was still no water. The two elements have been convincingly brought together by the artist. In the TextielLab of the TextielMuseum, the ropes were twisted in the traditional manner, an industry that once flourished in Tilburg thanks to its clean water.

The first sculpture by Geelen purchased by De Pont dates from 1990. It is made up of twenty-five square columns of brownish grey clay. Its open surface gives rise to a whimsical pattern of darks and lights that disrupts the severe rectangular forms. That ambiguity is characteristic of Geelen's work, in which unpolished casting channels are effortlessly combined with technical perfection.