A hat dancing on the wind, flowers blooming or a girl doing a handstand. In her work, Marijke Van Warmerdam (1959) chooses remarkably simple subjects. She makes use of image constructions, photo and film techniques, which provide an open and unexpected perspective and ask attention for the simple beauty of trivialities.

It is more than ten years since a retrospective of her work has been held in the Netherlands. This autumn Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen is showing a major retrospective exhibition of her diverse oeuvre. The exhibition is curated by Jan Debbaut, former director of collections at Tate in London.

Marijke van Warmerdam is best known for her short looped films. In the Bodon gallery there will be large projections of her well-known films, such as ‘Handstand’ (1992), ‘Skytypers’ (1997) and ‘Le retour du chapeau’ (1998), as well as new works that Van Warmerdam has made specially for the exhibition at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen. In addition to videos and films, the exhibition will feature photographic works, sculptures and painted film stills on canvas.

Marijke van Warmerdam does not tell stories in her works but relies upon the visual power of the motif. A falling drop of milk slowly dissolving in a glass of water in ‘Dream Machine’ (2006) or a hand running across venetian blinds in ‘Light’ (2010), altering the pattern of the daylight that filters through. Van Warmerdam removes banal objects and acts from their everyday context, although they are almost always carefully positioned, and she knows how to move along paths that lead to a different way of looking and experiencing. The endless repetitions in the film loops have an hypnotic effect, as writer Maarten Doorman puts it: “Marijke van Warmerdam’s work often lifts you up for a moment.”

The exhibition at the Boijmans van Beuningen will run from October 29 until January 22, 2012.

visit the website:
Museum Boijmans van Beuningen
Marijke van Warmerdam