Leander van Lieshout has nothing to do with Dutch -language folk music and also not with LEGO. Yet there is a tattoo of a combination of the two on his forearm. André Hazes in the form of a LEGO pop, a tribute to one of the coolest things that the 52-year-old Udenaar ever made.
We jump a few years ago, to 2020, when artist Streetart Frankey came up with the idea of having a statue of Hazes made for Amsterdam, in honor of the birthday of the famous singer.
Frankey approached the Dutch Deco Finish factory in Erp, where Leander worked, a job where he could put all his creativity. “I made the most insane things there,” he says. “An iconic statue of David Bowie that was given a place in Berlin, the skeleton of a Mammoet and the Python-Oachtbaan in the Efteling.” With clients such as Nike, TomTom, the Louvre in Paris and Lady Gaga, the work of the team can be seen all over the world.
“I decided to secretly finish the LEGO-Hazes myself.”
And the statue in the form of a 1.70 meter high Lego-pop from André Hazes. “We were fully engaged in it when the assignment with the municipality of Amsterdam was withdrawn,” he says. “I thought that was so huge. It didn’t let me go, and in the end I decided to secretly finish the image myself. I have the keys to the workplace, so in the evenings I could continue to work without anyone.”
When the life -size creation was ready – all in all there was two hundred hours of work in – Leander showed it to his colleagues. “They were full of surprise, but above all they thought it was clear. We decided to put the image on the spot for which it was originally meant: on the Dam in Amsterdam.”
In the Holst of the Night, Leander left with a few colleagues towards the capital, the huge André Hazes on a supporter, bumping over the A2. “Of course we had to do it unseen, otherwise we would have problems. And the dam is completely full of cameras, so it was quite an exciting action.”
“Fortunately, there was no dog on Dam Square.”
“At the time we were in the middle of the Corona Pandemie and that was our luck, because there was no dog on the Dam to be confessed, while there are normally hordes of tourists walking around. We quickly smeared a huge layer of glue on the bottom, stuck it on concrete blocks, made some selfies and then we ran away from Brabant.”
Inside no time Was the special LEGO pop the news of the day. “And we walked and beamed,” grins Leander. Unfortunately it was short -lived: within a week Hazes was beheaded, presumably by a bunch of drunk outpers. The head and hat were in pieces on the floor next to the image.
“We were then asked if we wanted to make a stupid-proof version,” says De Udenaar. “The first was a 3D print and fairly light, this time we made the image of other material, which made it a lot heavier and destroy less quickly.”
Later the LEGO image was stolen. A bad boy’s region of a Frisian group of young people during New Year’s Eve, it turned out later. “The whole country was in turmoil, but they had just informed us nicely in advance that they would remove it,” says Leander.
The Udenaar no longer works at Dutch Deco Finish. “My health doesn’t allow it anymore, I was forced to stop,” he says.
The LEGO version of the folk singer is the most special thing he has ever made. “That’s why that tattoo had to come. I am a blues enthusiast, and luckily Hazes was dressed as one in his last period Blues Brotherin black and with sunglasses. So that’s how I had it recorded. It has become a very musical theme on my arm, with a double bass and a jukebox. “
“Tattoos were only for pirates and criminals.”
It is not his first tattoo. “I came up when I was 18 and just dry. My parents were furious, they would have preferred to go over that tattoo with the cheese slicer,” he laughs. “Tattoos, they were only for pirates and criminals.”
“This is a kind of tribute to my work. I am often addressed, he catches the eye. What a special tattoo, they say. Then I tell my story. And that never bores.”