The Gift by Eric Staller: European première in Amsterdam

On Saturday 24 October, a five-and-a-half-metre sea-green hand will glide through Amsterdam’s canals. The Gift, the latest work by American artist Eric Staller, makes its European debut in Amsterdam. The route takes the sculpture from Westerdok Marina via the Prinsengracht and the Amstel to Café de Jaren. The artwork can be viewed from the canal banks and bridges along the route. What if this were your last work of art?

That was the question American artist Eric Staller asked himself when he began developing The Gift. After more than fifty years as an artist, he found himself reflecting on mortality, loss and what he might want to leave behind. He also thought about the Statue of Liberty and the ideals America once represented. What do freedom, openness and human connection mean in an increasingly divided world? His response was not a monument to strength, but an open hand: an image of tenderness and vulnerability, appearing to offer something without asking for anything in return.

A return to Amsterdam

Amsterdam holds a special place in Staller’s life. He lived here from 1994 to 2010, repeatedly surprising the city with his unconventional public artworks. His Lightmobile, a Volkswagen Beetle covered in lights, and Remote-Controlled Lovers, two heads swimming through the canals, turned public space into his stage. The first idea for The Gift also emerged from his apartment on the Herengracht. While works such as Peacetank and Mr. President used humour and satire to comment on war and political power, he now chooses a different gesture. With The Gift, Staller returns to the city where the idea began, bringing what he describes as a random act of hope and kindness.