Artist Richard Bolhuis has started working on an art piece in front of the Erasmus building, which will take up the entire square. The piece is a part of the Valkhof Museum’s ‘Into the Black Hole’ exhibition, which takes inspiration from black holes and is intended to bring science and art together.

On Thursday morning, Richard Bolhuis fights the elements on the windiest spot of the Radboud campus. With his pencil and brush in hand, he expands his art across the Erasmus square, dot by dot, stroke after stroke.

Layered Work

Bolhuis will be working on his piece, titled Spheres, for the next seven months. Bolhuis prefers to call it an installation; work of art is a very definitive term, he feels, as though there comes a point when the work is ever truly finished. ‘This intuitive project has no official start- or endpoint. Parts of it will be degraded by footprints and rain, after which I will take another pass. This creates a layered work.’ It’s not the final product that matters, but the journey to it. Bolhuis: ‘It’s about the healing effects of the imagination.’

In addition to the Erasmus square, Bolhuis will also start working around the Maria Montessori building, as well as the Keizer Karel square. By doing this, his work creates a connection between the city and the university; precisely what Into the Black Hole, the cooperation between the university and the museum, aims to accomplish.

Bolhuis takes his inspiration from the galaxy, as well as ecology. One could also see a link to mycelium, a fungal network composed of long wires that keep branching out. However, the artist emphasises that people need to find their own interpretations.

‘Mystery and wonder are of utmost importance. I’m often reminded of the phrase “a mystery is like a magnet” by David Lynch (film director and painter, ed.). I don’t want to pin down the meaning that people give to the work.’

Disappear

Bolhuis has discussed with the University where he will be placing his drawings, but in all other respects, he can shape the work as he sees fit. His project will be completed in April of next year, at the closing of the Valkhof Museum’s Into the Black Hole exhibition, after which the work will slowly disappear over time.

You can visit Into the Black Hole at the Valkhof Museum’s pop-up location on the Keizer Karel square, from October 17^th 2023 through April 19^th 2024. The exhibition is linked to the Radboud Art & Science festival, which takes place in October. Other works by Richard Bolhuis can be found here.