Lotta de Beus | The Great Escape

Now on display
19.09.24 - 30.03.25
WEB Lotta de Beus The Parade uit de serie The Great Escape 2013 acrylverf op doek Sanquin Kunstcollectie foto Blink Fotografie

What is reality? How can it be that one person experiences and perceives reality differently to another? These questions inspired Dutch artist Lotta de Beus (1974) to create The Great Escape (2013–14). Museum MORE presents a selection of three paintings in acrylics and two charcoal drawings.

The Assistant’s Barbecue | 2014 | acrylics on canvas | collection Lotta de Beus

Dreamlike quality

The Great Escape has a dreamlike quality, which is manifested in both the images and the materials used. The artist uses elements from the visible reality to tempt the viewer to step into her fictional world. Once inside, the depictions are suddenly more difficult to comprehend, and they instead raise questions. What is it that we are looking at?

De Beus staged every aspect of her scenes. She first made costumes and masks, in which friends subsequently performed at carefully selected locations. The artist even recorded an 8mm film of this spectacle. These moving images, as well as the photographs taken during these sessions, served as source material for the ultimate artworks. With this elaborate approach, De Beus created a certain distance from her own reality. The ‘filtered’ or alienating reality offers the viewer sufficient freedom for their own interpretation.
 

WEB Lotta de Beus Untitled uit de serie The Great Escape 2013 houtskool op papier collectie kunstenaar foto Blink Fotografie 02
Untitled | 2014 | houtskool op papier | collectie Lotta de Beus
WEB Lotta de Beus The Couple uit de serie The Great Escape 2014 acrylverf op doek collectie kunstenaar foto Blink Fotografie 2
The Couple | 2014 | acrylverf op doek | collectie Lotta de Beus
WEB Lotta de Beus Untitled uit de serie The Great Escape 2013 houtskool op papier collectie kunstenaar foto Blink Fotografie
Untitled | 2014 | houtskool op papier | collectie Lotta de Beus
WEB Lotta de Beus The Parade uit de serie The Great Escape 2013 acrylverf op doek Sanquin Kunstcollectie foto Blink Fotografie
The Parade | 2013 | acrylverf op doek | collectie Sanquin
WEB Lotta de Beus The Assistants Barbecue uit de serie The Great Escape 2014 acrylverf op doek collectie kunstenaar foto Blink Fotografie
The Assistant’s Barbecue | 2014 | acrylverf op doek | collectie Lotta de Beus

From the series The Great Escape (2013-2014)

Made with the support of the Mondriaan Fund, VoordeKunst and the AFK (Amsterdam Fund for the Arts)