Lily van der Stokker – Thank You Darling
Bright, vibrant, primary colours. A puffy pink couch. Larger than life geometric imagery surrounded by simplistically “innocent” texts painted directly onto the walls and other extruding objects.
Had I just walked into a cartoon?
It would be all too easy to pass this off as yet another Instagram-bait installation were it not for the fact that Lily van der Stokker (@LilyvanderStokker) has been making these for 40+ years.
They originate as small sized drawings (Images 5, 9) and frequently include basic statements such as “I like Anneke”, “don’t like pandemics” and “most of my female friends have a kid” (Image 3).
These domestic thoughts are often augmented with furniture or soft furnishings that are normal sized. Yet standing in front of them, placed against the larger than life wall versions of her drawings, I was filled with awe and felt like a kid again. (Images 1-3, 6)
I wanted to jump on the sofa and climb onto the big boxes. That fuzzy flower carpet was just begging me to take off my shoes, dump out a bag of Lego and start creating. (Images 3, 8)
You are definitely NOT supposed to do that, but the temporary nature of van der Stokker’s approach makes me wonder: why not?
Many works in this show date from the 1990’s. They are also dated 2022, when Lily and her team of ten assistants spent a month painting her work directly onto the walls for this show.
In September the walls will be repainted, and the framed works will once again be relegated to archival status, patiently waiting for future curators to use them as blueprints. Much like Sol LeWitt’s wall drawings, Lily’s art is theoretically able to grow and evolve long after she’s gone, and yet still be very distinctly her own.
I do hope that happens. The world needs joyful, colourful art. But even more so, it needs prompts for discussions that might not otherwise happen were it not for a seemingly simple statement rendered on a wall.
At Camden Art Centre (@camdenartcentre) until 18 Sep
Visit the Lily van der Stokker Wikipedia page or follow @LilyvanderStokker on Instagram for more info about the artist