Who Is Jacques Overhoff?
Overhoff demonstrating his playful spirit climbing his 32 ton Universal Vertebrae sculpture at its public unveiling in July 1965. Downtown Los Angeles - Wilshire Metropolitan Medical Center.
JACQUES OVERHOFF is an artist, architect, designer, educator, and innovator.
UPSIDE DOWN THINKING is at the core of Overhoff’s artistic drive as an ‘intuitive engineer’ equipped with all the professional tools and techniques, yet thinking outside the box.
Inhabited by a deeply passionate, energetic creative spirit, he has imagined and brought to life his original artistic visions during a life and a prolific career spanning decades and the world. As an educator, he has inspired thousands of students in the Netherlands and Germany.
Overhoff’s monumental architectural works have been commissioned since the 1960s. They stand in visible and significant locations in major cities around the world.
An international traveler and globe-trotter, Overhoff is Dutch/American. Born in Amsterdam in 1933, he came to the United States and lived in San Francisco from the ‘50s to the ‘80s. He then returned to Europe and presently resides near Hamburg, Germany.
Together with his daughter, Serena Overhoff, Jacques - young at heart in his ninth decade - has been shaping the vision and mission of The Jacques Overhoff Foundation dedicated to awarding annual grants to emerging artists in the State of California.
At the core of the foundation’s mission is the building of imaginative public spaces that are created and designed to engage and celebrate communities.
In 1983, Overhoff completed the design and implementation of ‘Torque’ at the Auto Plaza in Richmond, California. At the time, Torque was the first large scale public sculpture totally conceived by Overhoff in Metrics from concept to its permanent installation. Torque, at 240 tons, was the largest concrete sculpture erected on the West Coast.
Torque was unveiled as part of the 12th International Sculpture Conference with over 3,000 sculptors worldwide in attendance with the support of Standard Oil, Chevron Land & Development Company and Richmond Art Center. Overhoff’s Torque received a national award from The Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute in Chicago, IL.
Torque endures as a visual beacon for Richmond’s Auto Plaza. This sculpture reflects Overhoff’s commitment to design and community.
THE OVERHOFF OBJECTIVES
COMMITMENT - to socially significant goals
INVOLVEMENT - with project team - right from the start
DEDICATION - to durability with brick, concrete, bronze
IMAGINATION - which demands originality of design
FUNCTIONALITY - of ART to serve the COMMUNITY
SENSITIVITY - to site-specific scale and significance
Overhoff’s installation of public artwork, ‘is to do everything by hand.’ Photographed in 1979 at the Oregon State University Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital in Corvallis, Oregon.
