Marijke Van Warmedam

MARIJKE VAN WARMEDAM (Netherlands, 1959).
“In and out,” 2007.
Photograph. Edition 2/6.
Signed, dated, and numbered on the reverse.
Measurements: 65 x 100 cm.

This photograph belongs to the unique visual universe of Marijke van Warmerdam, an artist renowned for her ability to transform seemingly simple scenes of everyday life into symbolic images. In “In and out,” the artist directs our gaze toward a fleeting moment in nature: a cluster of red apples that seem to have fallen or to be shifting between two spaces—the lawn and the wild vegetation—creating a tension between the controlled and the spontaneous, the artificial and the organic. The image is built upon a composition that is seemingly simple yet deeply considered. The horizontal line dividing the scene functions as a visual boundary between two worlds: order and the exuberance of nature growing in the background.

Marijke van Warmerdam (who trained at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam (1987–1990)) is one of the most prominent Dutch artists on the contemporary scene. Her practice, which encompasses photography, film, sculpture, and installation, is characterized by the observation of small, everyday occurrences transformed into poetic and evocative images.

She represented the Netherlands at the 1995 Venice Biennale and has exhibited at institutions such as the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven, the Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, and the Museu de Serralves in Porto. Among her awards are the Prix de Rome (1992) and the David Roëll Prize (2004). His work is part of major international collections, including those of MoMA in New York, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, and the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam.