Madeleine Berkhemer | Legshow

Artist: Madeleine Berkhemer (1973-2019)  
Art work: Legshow (2012/2024)  
Collection: Madeleine Berkhemer Foundation 
Acquisition: Droom en Daad 

Madeleine Berkhemer was a prominent Rotterdam artist whose work focuses on the female body and always carries a sexual connotation. For Berkhemer, art that has no sexual connotation has no reason to exist. In 2024, Droom en Daad donated Legshow to De Doelen, where it now shines in the rooftop garden. The artwork is based on the principle of a room divider. While this object is typically used for undressing unseen, one can look through these legs. Berkhemer plays a game with voyeurism, seeing, and being seen, challenging the viewer to reflect on the implications of observation.

Berkhemer drew inspiration from other artists, such as Barbara Hepworth, who explored a groundbreaking approach to form and space in sculpture. In 2010, she designed a giant ceiling sculpture titled Garden of Earthly Delights, referencing the lust-driven landscapes of Hieronymus Bosch. In 2015, she created a gigantic pearl necklace with an open oyster for the Park at the Euromast, titled The Lost Pearl, which playfully represents the idea of mass versus emptiness in modern sculpture and, in this white version, evokes Hepworth's sculptural oeuvre. In the foyer of the Grote Zaal at De Doelen, Hepworth's work Curved Form/Bryher II (1961/1966) can also be found.

Throughout her career, Berkhemer produced and exhibited extensively. Countless individuals crossed her path, and she shared her views and ideas in various forms. During her illness, she established the Madeleine Berkhemer Foundation to manage her legacy and protect her art collection and oeuvre. 

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