They Paved Paradise and Put Up a Parking Lot

Picasso (2019) shows a Citroën Xsara Picasso balancing on a huge ancient boulder at the waterside. The artwork creates a strange and surprising image that plays with weight, time and context.

Forever Gift (2025) is a present that can never be opened. Because of this, the promise of a gift never becomes a disappointment. It can be both nothing and everything as long as it stays closed – a small joke about Schrödinger’s cat, according to Eysink Smeets.

In his newest work, Het verloop van auto's (2025), Eysink Smeets stacks five saloon cars on top of each other, as if a giant child has sorted toy cars by colour. These grey saloons, once the most ordinary cars, have now become almost like old fossil objects. With humour and wonder, the artist reflects on the role of cars in our public space.
“The car takes up so much of our living space that we hardly notice it anymore,” he says. “Often there is only one person inside, even though five people could fit in.”

The car installations invite us to think again about mobility, play, the use of space, and who is allowed to use it — and therefore also about the future of the city. The NDSM is part of a fast-growing urban area. Our large open grounds, often used as a car park, make these themes even stronger here.

Curious to learn more about Bart and his work? Read all about it in his interview with Het Parool.

About Bart Eysink Smeets
Bart Eysink Smeets shows what is already around us in a sharp and humorous way. He enlarges, observes, questions and reflects. With a playful and curious view, almost like a child, he looks at the world to find new insights.

About Stichting NDSM-werf
Stichting NDSM-werf programs and manages the monumental outdoor space of NDSM as a cultural wharf, with its public character, creative experimentation and multiple perspectives at its core. The foundation develops and presents site-specific installations and artworks by and with artists, designers and architects.

They Paved Paradise and Put Up a Parking Lot is made possible in part by the Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst and Mondriaan Fonds.