Artwork: De Werker, 1991

Natural stone with a concrete plinth, 145 x 70 x 70 cm.

Original description:
sculptor Kees Buckens always starts from visible reality, which he then abstracts. In 1989, he creates the sculpture The Granite Worker commissioned by the trade union FNV for the head office in Amsterdam: “Action, labour is depicted. Only who does it and what happens I prefer to leave open, as 'head' and 'arms' are missing. This would rob the image of its imagination,” says the artist.

He creates the sculpture The Worker for the Julie Claeysstraat in Breda two years later. The figure, bent under a heavy load, visibly bears the marks of how it was carved from natural stone.

Since 2019, it has stood in Boeimeerpark.

Kees Buckens (Breda 1957, lives and works in Rotterdam) followed the training in plastic design at the Academy in Den Bosch after his military service in Lebanon. After travelling to India and South America, he continued his education at the Jan van Eyck Academy in Maastricht. There, he learned to compose and build sculptures with granite.

He works on large commissions for social institutions and various companies.

Additionally, he teaches and creates birdhouses on commission.

The photos were taken by Jeroen van Eijndhoven.