I AM GOING TO BED
CODA MUSEUM, APELDOORN, NETHERLANDS
JANUARY 29 — JUNE 24, 2023

Lily van der Stokker won the 2021 Wilhelminaring, the biennial oeuvre prize for Dutch sculptors over the age of 50. This prize consists of a specially designed ring, an exhibition at Coda Museum, a commission for a sculpture in the Sprengenpark in Apeldoorn and a poem to accompany the sculpture in question.

Lily van der Stokker's work is radically mundane and occupies an exceptional position both at home and abroad. The short texts that star in her work deal with topics such as cleaning, a visit to the doctor or the upcoming renovation of the kitchen unit. Although the works often look light-hearted and cheerful, they also deal precisely with deeply human issues, such as getting older or not having children. At first glance, the texts are often personal and specific, but in their everydayness have a pleasant familiarity for many.

Van der Stokker's use of color and language of form are unique. By choosing things often seen as inappropriate in fine art, such as fluorescent colors, flowers and ornaments, she questions art history and her own role in it. Purely decorative beauty is often seen as trivial but Van der Stokker actually uses it as a powerful tool.

For the exhibition at Coda Museum that accompanies winning the Wilhelminaring (2021), Van der Stokker selected works from various periods. And although the Wilhelminaring is a prize for sculpture, this is broadly interpreted for this edition. After all, the spatial quality of Lily van der Stokker's work lies not only in the works she makes for public spaces or in the objects she often adds to murals, but also precisely in the way she works with her murals on location and interprets the specific space.

© Gerhard Witteveen