{"id":121743,"date":"2025-04-29T11:29:19","date_gmt":"2025-04-29T09:29:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.levoyageanantes.fr\/oeuvres\/latest-version\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T17:23:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T16:23:07","slug":"latest-version","status":"publish","type":"oeuvre","link":"https:\/\/www.levoyageanantes.fr\/en\/artworks\/latest-version\/","title":{"rendered":"Latest Version"},"content":{"rendered":"

Through his often humorous works, the Dutch artist explores our relationship to public space. He recontextualizes familiar elements to reveal their absurdity or unexpected poetry.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Place Royale is a symbol of downtown Nantes. Its monumental fountain \u2013 inaugurated in 1865 \u2013 reflects the city\u2019s 19th<\/sup>-century economic and urban boom: here, a central female figure embodies the city, surrounded by bronze allegories representing its driving forces \u2013 from the Loire and its tributaries to the industries of the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what does this monument still say about the city today? That\u2019s the question posed by Willem de Haan. Through his often humorous works, the Dutch artist explores our relationship to public space. He recontextualizes familiar elements to reveal their absurdity or unexpected poetry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Place Royale, he decided to \u201cupdate\u201d the fountain: fourteen hyperrealistic figures of contemporary people from Nantes have replaced the 19th<\/sup>-century allegories. Selected for their professions, commitments, or ties to the city\u2019s transformations, these individuals represent the social, economic, and cultural dynamics of the 21st<\/sup> century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through this piece, the artist offers a new way of reading the city, rooted in its current identity and ongoing changes. Blending homage and renewal, the work questions how a city builds its image through monuments, and how it chooses to tell its story in public space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do not climb on the foutain.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\t<\/div><\/section>\n\t

The Genius of Health, one of the fourteen statues presented as part of Willem de Haan\u2019s Latest Version<\/em> installation, was deliberately damaged at the end of November. Due to the significant damage observed, and in order to ensure public safety as well as the integrity of the artwork, our technical teams were required to remove the statue.
\nLe Voyage \u00e0 Nantes strongly condemns this act, which undermines a work presented in the public space. A complaint has been filed and an investigation is currently underway.
\nThe possibility of restoring the statue is under consideration, in close dialogue with the artist.
\nWe thank the public for their understanding.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\t\n\t