By Elwyn Davies
Alphons Van Maanen died at the end of May. Fons, as many people knew him, was one of the driving forces behind BiGfiSh, alongside Ren Slusarki, based in Moreland Street. BiGfiSh closed in 2021.
While you may not have heard of him, I suspect you have seen plenty of his work.
From the trees outside the Sun Theatre in Yarraville, the Dinosaur in McNish Reserve in Yarravile, ‘Joy’ the big blue lady in the Joan Kirner Women’s and Children’s Hospital at Sunshine, and lest we forget, to the late and great Millennial Man that stood proudly outside the Village cinemas at Sunshine.
Nationally Fons and Ren created pieces that feature in the National Arboretum in Canberra, and you may have caught some of their work at the Vivid Festival in Sydney.
Fons brought a great deal of passion to his work, and to his relationships with collaborators. He mentored and supported with advice and ideas. Fons will be remembered for the belief he inspired in others to undertake and achieve their own goals.
He was very connected to the local community and brought a lot of his energy to the Footscray Riverside Action Group, of which he was a founding member. FRAG was galvanized into action by the lack of activity from government organisations to repair the wharf on the river below Footscray Community Arts. The group was successful in getting it rebuilt, and Fons contributed significantly to ideas for the works along the riverfront that we now see there.
He will not just be greatly missed for what he himself produced and helped others to achieve, but also importantly for the sheer amount of energy he brought into anything he was involved in.
Oh, and I nearly forgot, he did like a single malt occasionally.
