Throughout her life, the theme of control and loss of control has been an essential part of the artistic work of Maddy Arkesteyn (NL/ BE). The groups of works shown convey a mood of departure.
DAS ESSZIMMER presents the first retrospective When the wind blows by the Dutch artist Maddy Arkesteyn (1966–2012). All her life the issue of control and loss of control was a substantial element of her artistic work: „People try to be in control of their life, while their place is determined for them, (…). It is a steady attempt to keep life together but it is constantly in danger of falling apart,“ replied Maddy Archesteyn (Dutch Magazine HP De Tijd, 1996) on the occasion of her exhibition in the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam.
The Makramee sculptures which Arkesteyn created in China (2010–2012) indicate the dichotomy of being inseparable and falling apart and unite aspects of tension and freeing. The material speaks about the knotted, the release arises from the association and the integration of different objects: stool, chair, roller skates or skateboards. These objects experience a transformation and are relieved from their actual tasks.
But also the photographic work from the series A promise of happiness (2008) shows the moment of transformation and freeing. Left behind plastic bags, witnesses of human activity and existence, are blown around by the wind. Released from their original function the wind reanimates them and shapes them anew.
Both series convey a feeling of a get-up-and-go attitude. Through the loss of control a „forboding of freedom“ arises and creates – as Arkesteyn describes – a moment of transformation.
