Leon Veerman and his blue feet in bronze

For sculptor Leon Veerman (1950), nature is an inexhaustible source of inspiration. Veerman has become famous for his unique bird sculptures. By combining organic and geometric shapes, he creates very imaginative bronze sculptures; nature in all its dynamics. The birds of Leon Veerman even possess some human beings here and there. They seem to be in deep conversation with each other, dancing in a row or scratching themselves with their blue feet behind the ear. These blue feet are no artistic input: there is actually a bird with blue feet, the Blue-footed Jan van Gent . His daughter brought a photo of a trip to Chile on which one day Blue Feet was pictured. From that moment on, Veerman was fascinated by this bird species, which uses his unique footsteps to charm the other sex during the mating dance.

Study of the sphere
After completing his education at the art academie in Utrecht, Leon Veerman focused his attention on abstraced human and animal forms, especially the organic sphere. For many years he experimented with this, making his first bird sculptures often no more than a curvature in the bronze, or a reference to a bird with wings. At first, his sculptures of nature and his research into the sphere formed two separate lines in his work, but later they became more and more common. His first sculptures Leon Veerman chopped in stone, but later he finally chose the more versatile bronze. The birds of Leon Veerman often have a humorous touch: they stand with their five in a row, seem to drop off the shelf or put their beak in the wind. Or they rage past in a bronze bird's eye view. By adding a ludic element, Leon Veerman's birds have almost something human, which makes them unique as well as other bird sculptures.

In bronze cast passion for nature
From the sculptures Veerman speaks his great involvement with nature. Titles of bird sculptures such as Albatros Odyssey, Dancing for life and World in creation are a reflection of his interest in everything that lives. Veerman says, "The concern for the environment became an important driving force for me. In my sculptures I can shape my engagement with nature and my concern for the environment ". In addition to his sculpture, Leon Veerman likes to wander for days through nature. He experiences the encounter with nature as a source of peace, and at the same time says it is a battery that provides the artist with new energy and strength and inspiration. Leon Veerman patinates all his (bronze) sculptures himself. The patina is the finishing touch of any bronze image. In general, eight copies are cast from each sculpture , which although they are largely identical, give their patina and the way of polishing each individual piece of work.

Flight of the Albatross
In addition to penguins, blue foots and sea eagles, many recent sculptures of Leon Veerman are inspired by the Albatross annual cycle & nbsp; a bird living in the South Pole. This bird species has the widest wingspan of all bird species and can make huge distances. An Albatross couple lives for a long time: each year they breed in huge colonies on the islands of the Southern Oceans. After fleeing the young birds, the couple takes off for 9 months apart to roam solo across the world seas. After this period, they reunite for the next breeding period. Because of his way of life, the Albatross is as no other symbol of dynamics in nature, casted in bronze by the sculptor Leon Veerman.


We would like to invite you to a bird's eye view of nature in all its dynamics, during the exhibition Free as a Bird & rsquo; In gallery Wildevuur, from 19 May to 25 June. On Sunday, May 21 at 14 pm is the festive opening, where Leon Veerman will reveal and explain his latest sculptures personally while enjoying all the beauty. A welcome drink is ready for you!

More about the sculptures of Leon Veerman can of course be found on the website of Leon Veerman