Don’t expect to see stained glass traditional in this former church that has become an art institute in the Netherlands, as explained by the magazine d’architecture Dezeen. At the rear of the building is “a modern surreal take on classic church stained glass windows, which curve dramatically towards each other, creating a physical ’embrace’“, since September, as explained by Studio Job at the origin of this sculpture in glass and bronze similar to cartoon scenes. The Dutch Kunstkerk Foundation commissioned Job Smeets to create a monumental work of art for the newly launched creative space in historic Dordrecht.
A successful bet for this imposing bronze and glass sculpture which measures 13 meters high and required 5 years of work. It was made piece by piece by hand from bronze and pigmented glass. This sculpture has the particularity of adorning the back of the building which was not yet in use and not the front. The idea being to give as much importance, if not more, to the back of the building than to its front façade, thus modifying its use. “The facade becomes a canvas», in the words of Job Smeets, of Studio Job, for this work, a mixture of architecture and sculpture. “This is where art meets craftsmanship and where religion meets architecture“, he underlines.
Unconventional characters
The glass windows are placed outwards and not inwards as in traditional churches. “The designs face outward rather than inward to make them visible to anyone walking pastexplains Job Smeets. Another originality, the characters represented on the stained glass windows are far from being conventional. A child is depicted sticking out his tongue and wearing devil horns on his head. Bees, climbing roses but also rockets also decorate the windows, surprising motifs for church stained glass.
There are also 5 hand-sculpted bronze animals, four turtles and a rooster. Turtles would give protection and wisdom according to an ancient Asian custom. They support here the whole of the work which rests on their shells. As for the two-meter high rooster placed at the top of the structure, it weighs 300 kilos. It is not rare to see roosters adorning the steeples of churches, this animal representing in particular the sunrise and thus the moment when the darkness of the night fades away, but this one seems to shout on the roofs, like a rebellious bird, which embodies the style of Studio Job.