Eleven porcelain suits of armor created by Amsterdam artist Hans van Houwelingen for the Province of Friesland explore the fragility of tradition and civil authority. Produced with centuries-old ceramic firm Koninklijke Tichelaar Makkum, the armor suggests the protection of an equipped military force backed by a governmental authority, but – of course- you’d be insane to rely on these in battle. It’s probably best to hide behind the smokescreen the suits create and hope you’re not around when the porcelain guardians meet a force of sufficient power.
With this is mind it seems curious that these suits were unveiled by Queen Beatrix in 2012 and are proudly on display in Friesland’s new provincial authority building. Maybe the Netherlands’ government is more soberly self-aware than most. That would be refreshing if the underlying message of Houwelingen’s work didn’t make us feel so anxious.
Houwelingen loves treading this ground, according to his biography on Makkum’s site. The artist (born in 1957) was educated at the Minerva Art Academy in Groningen and at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam. His work regularly appears in public spaces and explores the relationship between art, politics and ideology.
Bill Rodgers is a Contributing Editor at CFile.
Above image: Porcelain armor created by Hans Van Houwelingen. Photograph courtesy of Makkum.
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Display and production images from Hans van Houwelingen’s porcelain suits of armor. Photographs courtesy of Koninklijke Tichelaar Makkum.
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Absolutely gorgeous creations!