Stigter van Doesburg is pleased to present 'Interiors', the fourth solo presentation of Maaike Schoorel at the gallery. Throughout a reduction process from photographic material, the artist makes paintings that are whispering their subjects to the viewer. As a blink of an eye is not enough to perceive them, it requires time to discover the paintings fully. The first impression of her work as monochromes disappears after a few seconds. Like an instant photo, slowly the image develops on the retina, letting classic genres as self-portrait, still life or nude emerge.
In Interiors, Maaike Schoorel invites the visitor into her private environment. The viewer is introduced to her circle of friends, her house, pets, and even her body. A large canvas painted black on black reveals an after party in New York, where a bent woman smokes out of a window and a half lit figure in orange shorts stands on a carpet made by rhythmic color gestures. This composition makes an involuntary reference to Edgar Degas’ 'Interior' (1868), notwithstanding the original photograph comes from the artist’s archive. Three self-portraits painted in life-size are also present in the show. One of them is a daydream composition of more images that Schoorel merged in one, resulting in a bird’s eye view of the artist and a large dog lying on a grass field. The nude contour of the figure is barely visible, in contrast with the dynamic brushstrokes of the dog’s fur.
In this new series of paintings, the artist exposes her personal life publicly, starting an unexpected dialogue with the visitor who becomes a voyeur of her private nudity. In a time where images are commodities consumed and forgotten at high speed, the paintings of Maaike Schoorel stimulate the slow process of long-term memory.
