In front of the door of the Haagse Kunstkring on Denneweg is a special work of art that perhaps not everyone notices right away: the “Exit Tile” by renowned Hague artist Paul van Solingen. This striking tile has a fascinating history, dating back to May 1981.
In the early morning of that May day, Van Solingen placed his homemade concrete tile, with a winding gutter for his “tears,” in the sidewalk of the Lange Voorhout. His artwork, created under the motto “Crying out and starting over. That’s just the way all life is,” was intended as a symbolic gesture. As with his mosaic tile he had illegally laid in the sidewalk of the Spui in 1964, Van Solingen seemed to anticipate a reaction from the municipality.
And that response came. The municipality of The Hague saw the “Uithuiltegel” as a disturbance to the protected cityscape on Lange Voorhout and removed the tile, which subsequently ended up in a municipal storage facility. Van Solingen, determined, retrieved his tile, and after consultation with the municipality, a new, permanent location was found: the sidewalk in front of Haagse Kunstkring on the Denneweg.
On Dec. 27, 1984, the tile was ceremoniously unveiled by architect and art circle member Sem Aardewerk, under the watchful eye of the president and members of the Haagse Kunstkring. The text in the border of the tile reads, “Exit tile, Paul van Solingen, ’60-’80,” a reference to Van Solingen’s twenty years of activity as an artist by then.
This artwork shows how art and public space can interact.
It reminds us that art sometimes evokes unexpected reactions, but eventually manages to find its place – just as the “Weeping tile” now has a permanent home for the HKK.
Admire the tile, a piece of Hague art history that is literally under your feet.
