lily van der stokker

Over the past decade, Dutch artist Lily van der Stokker (b. 1954) has received international attention for large-scale wall paintings that are striking for their eruptions of bright colors and playfully subversive, doodle-like imagery. Her approach to conceptual art is radical among artists working today by virtue of being so extremely accessible and visually appealing. Deliberately optimistic, oftentimes humorous, but never naïve, the paintings often include bits of text names, factual information, intimate notations. Taking on such “forbidden” subjects as friendship, family, and happiness, van der Stokker questions the conventional roles of beauty, self-expression, and pleasure in art and their relation to serious art today. Her paintings present a deliberate contrast to art’s frequent detachment from the reality of ordinary people.

Despite their many stages of planning, room-size scale, and the frequent incorporation of actual pieces of furniture or boxes built out from the wall, her paintings retain the appearance of spontaneous sketches. Van der Stokker’s site-specific installation for the Contemporary Gallery will be her first solo museum project in the United States. She is represented in New York by Feature, Inc.

Generous support provided by the Mondriaan Foundation, The Netherland-America Foundation, and Worcester Magazine.