Mondriaan

Mondriaan by Berend Strik is part of the Deciphering the Artist's Mind series, documenting the studio of Piet Mondrian — the Dutch pioneer of geometric abstraction whose late studio in New York became a legendary space in modern art history.

As Fons Welters describes: "In Deciphering the Artist's Mind, Judgments of Love we see a construction of the studio of Mondriaan. Strik edited the last photographs of the studio into a flat surface without perspective, straightening out the space that was furnished by Mondriaan and making a unity of the characteristic planes."

This approach — flattening Mondrian's studio into a composition of planes — is itself a commentary on Mondrian's own formal language. Strik's textile interventions add another layer, creating a dialogue between his stitched work and the artist he investigates.

The Mondrian studio work was included in Strik's exhibition at Fons Welters accompanying the publication of Deciphering the Artist's Mind (2020), designed by Irma Boom.

Sources: Fons Welters · Mercatorfonds