Michael Raedecker talks to Ben Luke about his influences—from writers to musicians, film-makers and, of course, other artists—and the cultural experiences that have shaped his life and work.
Raedecker, born in Amsterdam in 1963, brings together paint, thread and printed imagery to create canvases pregnant with unsettling and uncanny atmosphere. At the heart of his work is the meeting between humanity and nature and, even though his paintings are mostly unpopulated, the presence of people is always implied through their absence.
Michael Raedecker's circuit (2021) Courtesy the artist and Grimm Gallery
We see the interiors and exteriors of homes, with lights on, beds ruffled, curtains half-drawn, cars outside; we witness empty loungers beside a swimming pool or an unoccupied lilo floating on its surface. We see landscapes that seem only recently to have been vacated. In still lifes we seem to witness a hastened process of decay. Images become almost hallucinatory through the emphases Michael gives elements of his compositions, with heightened texture or colour or surreal disjunctions. We are thrust into riddles, stories or dreams that are familiar yet otherworldly.
Michael Raedecker's Exposure (2001-02)
Courtesy the artist and Grimm gallery
He discusses his early encounter with the work of Edward Kienholz, how seeing Luc Tuymans at Documenta in Kassel in 1992 was a turning point in his work, and hear about an encounter with Sigmar Polke at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. Raedecker reflects on the importance of 1980s New Romantic and Blitz Kids culture to his early life and how music continues to be central to his time in the studio today. We hear about more studio rituals and he answers our usual questions, including the ultimate: what is art for?
• Michael Raedecker: Material Worlds, Kunstmuseum den Haag, The Hague, The Netherlands, 13 April-28 August; Michael Raedecker, Grimm, Amsterdam, 30 May-20 July
Michael Raedecker's Long Distance (2023)
Courtesy the artist and Grimm Gallery
This podcast is sponsored by Bloomberg Connects, the arts and culture app.
The free app offers access to a vast range of international cultural organisations through a single download, with new guides being added regularly. They include several museums that have shown and collected the work of Michael Raedecker, among them Tate and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. If you download Bloomberg Connects you will find that the guide to the Guggenheim includes in-depth features on exhibitions from its collection. By Way Of: Materials and Motion in the Guggenheim Collection has an audio introduction by the curator Naomi Beckwith and texts about works by Xaviera Simmons, Mark Bradford and many others. The feature on Key Works in the Thannhauser Collection has audio content on numerous works in this transformative gift to the Guggenheim, including paintings by Edgar Degas and Pablo Picasso.