Studio MT

Studio MT (2021) is part of Berend Strik's Deciphering the Artist's Mind series — documenting the studio of an artist suggested by the initials M.T., continuing his exploration of creative spaces across Europe, the United States, and Indonesia.

As Mercatorfonds describes the series: "Strik explores the relationship between creative spaces and aesthetic concepts through the studios of international contemporary artists." The series began with Marcel Duchamp's former Manhattan studio and has expanded to include studios across the globe.

For each studio, Strik photographs the space, enlarges and prints the image, then adds textile interventions that highlight certain details while concealing others. This process of selection and emphasis is itself an interpretive act — expropriating the subject matter from the artist whose studio is portrayed.

The series has been exhibited internationally, most recently at Fons Welters (Amsterdam, 2024) in conjunction with the publication of the Mercatorfonds catalogue designed by Irma Boom.

Sources: Mercatorfonds