Madelon Vriesendorp: Mind Games

A major retrospective celebrating the surreal, subversive practice of artist Madelon Vriesendorp is now open at Sir John Soane's Museum. Dutch artist Madelon Vriesendorp (b. 1945) has been a lifelong collector. Like Sir John Soane, she has gathered artwork and objects throughout her career, arranging them in her home and using them as sources of inspiration. For Vriesendorp, the things she collects are themselves a generative force. She observes and understands the world through the objects in it, looking at everything through a surrealist lens. This way of seeing has influenced a unique practice in which humour, play, collecting and collaboration are at the fore. Fundamentally, Vriesendorp makes things that make her laugh. Over the decades, her work has been embraced by architects and architectural writers alike for its ability to give architectural theories memorable identities, helping to explain the complex ideas behind modern and postmodern architecture. Ranging from early etchings, drawings and book covers to more recent work including jewellery, new works on paper and sculpture, this exhibition explores the creativity and imagination of an artist whose way of seeing continues to influence architects and artists today.