By Corstiaan Van Pelt
During the winter break, while walking through the Boijmans museum, I decided I wanted to interview local artists. I had always known that the father of Robin van Persie (the striker of Manchester United) was an artist. I decided to interview him because of the thought behind his art: he gives worthless materials new value.
Puck, Ewout and I arrived in the pouring rain. We pulled the old-fashioned bell and within a few seconds Bob opened for us. We stepped into a huge hall with artworks hanging everywhere. The place is called ‘Utopia’, and was founded in the previous century by a few artists. Nowadays, seventeen different people use it as their working place: painters, photographers, sculptors, architects, etc. Bob’s working place was hidden in a corner of the building behind huge, purple curtains. The curtains gave his place the aura of the holy of holies in the Jewish temple, which was also hidden behind huge curtains. His atelier was well lit by natural daylight and rather simple. To the left there was a wall-covering scaffolding, which was full of old (Arsenal) magazines, artwork and unfinished paper work. To the right there was a large desk, which he used as his working table. In the room, one could find various references to his son Robin: a shirt from his time at Arsenal, various Arsenal magazines, a clock with his name and a metal silhouette of his legendary dive to score the 1-1 for the Dutch team against Spain at the World Cup in Brazil. We sat down and the interview began.
Can you tell us something about your history?
I was born in Amsterdam, but made in Sydney. My father was a war pilot in India. I grew up in Voorburg, together with my brother Ruud. After I finished High School I wandered for a year and a half through Europe. Then I decided to join the ‘Koninklijke Academie’ in The Hague; however, after a year I switched to the Academy in Rotterdam. I began studying advertisement, but switched to liberal arts. Since I was young, I loved to make sculptures.
What inspired you to make art out of paper?
The crowds in the football stadiums. If you enter a football stadium, a painting is slowly being shaped by the crowds on the bleachers. It inspired me and I try to recreate these sceneries. I choose for paper because it is a form of recycling. I give new life to paper that other people value worthless.
How would you define yourself as an artist?
There are two main streams in my work. The main line is my paper craftsmanship. The second line is completely free work. In my work you can find two clear characteristics, namely a lot of repetition and a lot of rhythms.
Which character trait helps you the most at being an artist?
My ability to endure being alone. I’m more of a monic than an entertainer. That’s also one of the reasons I barely give interviews or make TV appearances. I love being free to be able to plan the day according to my own insights.
Bob van Persie went on to tell us about the ways he earns his money. Some of his work he sells via galleries, but the drawback is that he has to pay half of the revenues to the gallery owner. His other work he sells privately. He tries to encourage people to buy his work by appointment by giving them 10 to 20% off, making it a win-win situation for both Bob and the buyer.
Can you explain the procedure of making your paper art?
First of all, I choose the type of paper. This depends on the person I am making the artwork for. If I am making something for Arsenal, I use paper from the Arsenal magazine for example. Then I start folding little ‘poppetjes’ [figures, dolls] and gluing them to a canvas. Next, I cover them with ‘paverpol’ to make the paper hard. Last, I cover them with ‘acryl varnish’, which protects the paper against UV radiation.
What is your favorite type of paper?
“Paper from the phone book. It’s very thin and foldable. Too bad the phone books are disappearing. I am collecting them, so if you happen to have one left… By the way, paper from glossy magazines is the worst type of paper for my kind of work”.
Do your surroundings, friends and family play an important role in your art?
“Yes, they play a role. My colleague artists who work in the same hall, we work together sometimes and inspire each other. And of course my son Robin; he is a returning theme in some of my artworks. Actually, Robin once said that what my father does with his hands, I do with my feet”
What do you hope to transmit to the people with your artwork?
“The joy of watching it. The artworks have to speak for themselves”.
And with this last message we ended the interview. It was still raining when we left the building, but the joy of having met an artist could not be diminished by the weather. If you’re interested in his work, you can usually find them in galleries in Rotterdam.
Visit Bob’s website: bobvanpersie.com
Corstiaan van Pelt, class of 2016, is Social Sciences Major from Rotterdam.
