Olaf Mooij

Olaf Mooij

‘I try to create artworks related to people to help them understand art. I also want to put humor in my art that makes people smile.’

Name: Olaf Mooij
Born: Netherlands, 1958
Art Zuid edition(s): 2009

Social Media: Instagram, Facebook

About Olaf Mooij

Olaf Mooij is a sculptor and installation artist. He studied at the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam. Although that academy strongly encourages abstract thought and work, he was determined to with utensils which he arranged into an installation. The car has gradually become his leitmotiv, he considers it to be exemplary of the human life cycle. Like humans, the car is transient.

The use of existing shapes and objects plays a large role in his work. These inspire and give him a certain direction. For Mooij, the car is a rich source of imagination. He incorporates life-size and toy-size car parts into many of his works.

In 1999 Mooij made the DJ-Mobiel, a converted Ford Sierra with sound system and DJ booth. This earned him a nomination for the Rotterdam Design Prize. He continued the theme “car” and six years later made Braincar, a car that captured its surroundings during the day and projected the images in the evening onto large brains mounted behind and on top of the car. He won first prize at Art Basel in 2007 with this object. DJ-Mobiel 2.0 was shown at the Pukkelpop and Down The Rabbit Hole festivals in 2014, among others.

For the first edition of ART ZUID in 2009, Olaf Mooij made his Soundbike using a variety of materials. Composed of original bicycle parts such as wheels, front fork, handlebars and reclining saddle, encased in red and black. The sound that Soundbike produces is more reminiscent of a rocket than a bicycle.

In 2018, he collected enough money through Voordekunst to realize his dream project  namely, a museum for Carcheology on an old shunting yard in the port of Rotterdam.

Art at ARTZUID

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