Four zebras are standing on a raft in the water. From there, these zoo animals look at the audience on the shore. They have stripes, in the relief of their bodies, but artist Herman Lamers gave them colours that he thought looked good on them. These turned out to be the rainbow colours of the queer flag. “These zebras have their own Pride parade,” Lamers says. Yvo van der Vat made a traffic sign to go with it.
The Rotterdam‑based artist Herman Lamers always wonders why the things and the animals are the way they are, and whether it could be different. Many of his sculptures and installations are made for public space. With a cheerful absurdity, they respond to the place where they are situated, they invite to look in a new way. What Lamers creates fits Festival Tweetakt so well that this year he has a major presence in the exhibited artworks. Be sure to also take a look at the Neude. Lamers has shaped part of the Utrecht city square with various works, including his monumental Eyes Wide Open Church. And just around the corner, on the façade of Theater Kikker on the Ganzenmarkt, you can see a neon work by Lamers: an elephant balancing on a slack rope.
After his studies at the Minerva Academy in Groningen, Herman Lamers became a versatile artist. He is a sculptor, installation artist, photographer and draughtsman, and works with all kinds of materials: bronze, aluminium, neon, wood, textiles, plastics, clay and wire mesh. Lamers often collaborates with Yvo van der Vat under the name Lavart.
