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demo (psywar)
Artist Michael Raedecker (1963)
Title demo (psywar)
Year 2017
Material Acrylic, laser printer pigment transfers, acrylic dispersions and thread on canvas
About the work Although this work is not large, only 45 by 30 centimetres, it is charged with intensity. The lonely house at the end of a road is surrounded by a vast, blue void. Moreover, as you get closer, it looks like smoke is curling up from the roof. Could the house be on fire? Are there people inside? And who might they be? No matter how close you get to this work, the distance between you and what you see remains undiminished.
About the artist Raedecker made the switch to painting after studying fashion at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam. This background is reflected in his use of materials. He plasters his paintings with bits of fabric, for example, or embroiders details with silver and wool thread. For him, embroidery is linked to domestic living, a theme he frequently refers to in his work. For example, by depicting houseplants or empty interiors or houses in deserted landscapes. Raedecker was an artist-in-residence at the Rijksakademie voor Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam and pursued a Master’s degree at Goldsmith’s College in London. He currently lives and works in Amsterdam.
In the collection Acquired in 2018. In the 1990s, De Nederlandsche Bank acquired two other works by Raedecker, titled the cover (kiss) and great expectations. The Nederlandsche Bank also has works by other artists using textiles and handicraft techniques, such as Berend Strik and Claudy Jongstra.
