• Née en 1973, vit à Rotterdam, Pays-Bas
• Quando vedrete mio caro amore – 2018
Métal, nylon
Œuvre
Une théorie de jambes féminines s’étire en procession sous la forme de paravents étincelants. Chaussées d’escarpins vertigineux, elles attendent que leur galbe soit gansé de soie. Au-dessus d’elles est suspendue une sculpture de bas étirés en tous sens. Elle est comme la pluie d’or qui descendra et fécondera Danae. Ces jambes sont celles d’une femme qui attend en vain le retour d’un amour irrémédiablement perdu.
Parcours
Le corps féminin est la matière première de Madeleine Berkhemer. Érotisé, parfois allégorisé, il s’incarne dans des fragments anatomiques, des mythologies déclinées dans des photographies, sculptures ou performances. Berkhemer insuffle une étincelle de vie dans le corps de ses créatures, une sorte d’impulsion électrique, l’énergie invisible d’une universelle tension sexuelle que ses sculptures de nylon écartelées matérialisent particulièrement bien. Car ce sont là des sortes de toiles d’araignée, où chacun peut se reconnaître, englué dans les contradictions de ses propres désirs.
Texte choisi par l’artiste
Quando vedrete mio caro amore de Donatella Moretti, 1963 (Doradena Ognibene)
When you will see my dear love
tell him how much he made me suffer
but don’t let him understand that I still love him
this no… this he must never know.
Tell him only that there is a girl
who never did anything wrong,
but which suffered so much and will not be able to forget
this yes, this is what he must know…
When he will remember me
when he wishes to have a little love
remembering your words
he will no longer have the courage to return.
When you see my dear love,
perhaps it’s better you say nothing
but look only at him and tell me if he is happy
because I love him still and therefore
all the best I want for him and I always will
Work
A theory of female legs parades in the form of shimmering screens. Shod in vertiginous stilettos, they are waiting for their curves to be sheathed in silk. Above them hangs a sculpture of stockings stretched in all directions, like the golden rain that streamed down to impregnate Danae. These legs are those of a woman waiting in vain for the return of a hopelessly lost love.
Career
The female body is Madeleine Berkhemer’s primary material. Eroticised, it is embodied in anatomical fragments, mythologies in the form of photographs, sculptures or performances. Berkhemer instils a spark of life in the body of her creatures, a sort of electrical impulse, the invisible energy of universal sexual tension that her dismembered nylon sculptures bring particularly well to life. They resemble spider’s webs, a symbol that we can all relate to, tangled in the contradictions of our own desires.
Text chosen by the artist
Quando vedrete mio caro amore de Donatella Moretti, 1963 (Doradena Ognibene)
When you will see my dear love
tell him how much he made me suffer
but don’t let him understand that I still love him
this no… this he must never know.
Tell him only that there is a girl
who never did anything wrong,
but which suffered so much and will not be able to forget
this yes, this is what he must know…
When he will remember me
when he wishes to have a little love
remembering your words
he will no longer have the courage to return.
When you see my dear love,
perhaps it’s better you say nothing
but look only at him and tell me if he is happy
because I love him still and therefore
all the best I want for him and I always will
Obra
Una teoría sobre piernas femeninas que se amplía como si se tratara de una procesión, bajo la apariencia de unos biombos chispeantes. Piernas calzadas con vertiginosos zapatos de tacón de aguja esperan a que sus curvas sean recubiertas de seda. Y por encima de todas ellas, suspendida, una escultura de medias estiradas en todas direcciones. Es como la lluvia de oro que descenderá y fecundará a Dánae. Las piernas son las de una mujer que, en vano, espera el regreso de un amor irremediablemente perdido.
Curso
El cuerpo femenino es la materia prima de Madeleine Berkhemer. Erotizado se encarna en fragmentos anatómicos, mitologías declinadas en fotografías, esculturas o performances. Berkhemer sopla una chispa de vida en el cuerpo de sus criaturas, una suerte de impulso eléctrico, la energía invisible de una tensión sexual universal inmejorablemente materializada en sus esculturas de nilón descuartizadas. Una especie de telarañas en las que cada cual puede reconocerse, inmerso en las contradicciones de sus propios deseos.
Texto elegido por el artista
Quando vedrete mio caro amore de Donatella Moretti, 1963 (Doradena Ognibene)
When you will see my dear love
tell him how much he made me suffer
but don’t let him understand that I still love him
this no… this he must never know.
Tell him only that there is a girl
who never did anything wrong,
but which suffered so much and will not be able to forget
this yes, this is what he must know…
When he will remember me
when he wishes to have a little love
remembering your words
he will no longer have the courage to return.
When you see my dear love,
perhaps it’s better you say nothing
but look only at him and tell me if he is happy
because I love him still and therefore
all the best I want for him and I always will
