The LAM museum on the Keukenhof Estate in Lisse has added a large photographic artwork by Dutch artist Dirk Hardy to its collection. Spotted at the opening of the PAN art fair, the artwork is a trompe-l’œil, an optical illusion of a fast-food bike courier. It’s like looking through the window of a fast-food joint at night. With the artwork, Hardy hopes to make viewers think about our consumer society and the situation of freelance bike couriers.
LAM director Sietske van Zanten says: “This work is a perfect fit for our international collection of artworks on food and consumption. At first glance, it’s stimulating and perhaps even cheerful. It draws your attention right away, and then you go on to discover more and more details – and perhaps the not-so-cheerful story of the courier.” Hardy’s artwork will be on display at the LAM museum from the Christmas school holidays onwards.
No time to lose
In Dirk Hardy’s artwork, a bike courier sits at a dirty table waiting for the next job. The raindrops on his jacket and enormous delivery bag tell of the bad weather. The bike lights on his jacket and bag haven’t been switched off: he will not be here for long. He’s brought his own plastic container of leftover fried rice and is making good use of his time between deliveries.
Realistic
However real the work might appear, almost everything was conceived and created by Hardy himself. The artist spent three months working full-time on the artwork. He built the set, came up with a fictional brand and produced the clothes, delivery bag and advertising posters. A carpenter crafted the frame according to Hardy’s design to make it look like a window.
Dirk Hardy
Dirk Hardy (1989, Boxtel) lives and works in The Hague. He studied architecture at Eindhoven University of Technology and photography at the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam. His first major international exhibition was held at Photo Basel in Switzerland in 2019. Hardy has an exhibition at the Leica Galerie Konstanz in Germany this autumn.
Proud that the LAM museum has acquired his work, Hardy says: “I’m really happy that it has found a home at the LAM museum. The subject is extremely dear to my heart, and the fact that this story will be on display at the LAM is very important.”
Ordinary, extraordinary
The LAM museum on the Keukenhof Estate in Lisse has an international art collection based on the theme of food and consumption. Artists – including big names like Ron Mueck, Yinka Shonibare, Kathleen Ryan, Raquel van Haver and Folkert de Jong – offer fresh perspectives on everyday activities like eating, drinking and shopping.
Sietske van Zanten: “We hope that visitors will look at everyday things in a new way, both during and after their visit to the museum. In this respect, Dirk Hardy’s artwork is perfect.”
On display from the Christmas holidays onwards
Hardy’s photographic artwork will be given a place at the LAM museum during the Christmas school holidays. In the meantime, it will be on display at Rutger Brandt Gallery’s stand at PAN (RAI Amsterdam) until Sunday, 27 November 2022.