Arnulf Rainer | tiresome moi

Studio Visit: Berend Strik

I like to know how things are made, it doesn’t matter if it’s cheese, clothespins, or adding machines. I’m a sucker for factory tours, farm visits, open kitchens, open studios, and open windows. Invite me in and I’ll be the last one out.

So you can imagine I eagerly accepted an invitation to the studio of Dutch Artist Berend Strik.

The short version (my version): Berend sews on photographs.

Strik’s version: [I] make space in the mind to find my own way out.

The academic version: Strik’s embroideries are a drastically mutated painting that has been completely infiltrated by the conditions of the generic, post-disciplinary visual art. – Sven Lütticken

Berend is currently working on a series of photographs based on other artist’s studios. So here is me wandering through Berend’s studio looking at the studios of others.

Studio: Jan Beutener, Amsterdam

Studio: Mary Ellen Carroll, New York City

Studio: Arnulf Rainer, Austria

Studio: Mickalene Thomas, Brooklyn

I also like straight lines, linear connections, and things tied up in neat little bundles:

Two days before I left for Paris I saw Mickalene Thomas’s show “Origin of the Universe” at the Brooklyn Museum. In the corner of Berend’s image of Thomas’ studio rests “Origin of the Universe 2”, Ms. Thomas’ image based on Gustave Courbet’s 1866 L’Origine du monde (The Origin of the World). And so, from Berend’s studio in Amsterdam I make my way back to Paris by way of New York.

Full circle.

Berend’s studio images range from large (wall size) to very large (too big for any wall in my apartment). In another dimension you could walk into them and Berend’s threads pull you in. The swaths and patches of fabric both mask and beckon.

Studio: Berend Strik, Amsterdam*

This is Berend standing in front of the door captured in the image above. That is, a shot of Berend’s photograph of his studio and my shot of Berend in his studio.