Life Cycle

Theme exhibition

Thematic Exhibition "Life Cycle", a Walk Through Life in Images 

In the thematic exhibition "Life Cycle," we take a walk through life, featuring twenty images from the Het Depot collection. "Life Cycle" moves along a linear timeline, then briefly touches on human emotions, and hops back and forth between the wider and narrower growth rings of a tree of life.

The exhibition will be officially opened on Sunday, October 5th, at 2:30 PM by Johan Luijmes, artistic director of Het Depot. The opening will take place in the main building of Het Depot, Arboretumlaan 4 in Wageningen.

Stages of life are literally depicted. For example, in Jeroen Meijs's Big Bang and Awakening, we recognize a baby. The unmistakable shapes of a baby's face seem to emerge from a wooden grid. The titles Big Bang and Awakening can be interpreted as a reference to the miracle of life coming into being. This miracle seems to be further emphasized by the monumentality of the images. They are powerful images of vulnerability. But perhaps, as a visitor, you will see them quite differently, and the images will draw you into your personal history. Because it's almost inevitable that the images in a thematic exhibition that focuses on life's journey will evoke memories and emotions from your own life. You look at Thijs Kwakernaak's Landscapes and picture the muttering mouth of your ancient grandmother, always dressed in black. And depending on which image you see and depending on which role you take as a viewer, you are a child yourself, a toddler by Natasja Bennink, a mother or father, a girlfriend or a boyfriend, an insecure teenager or tough Tors by Eppe de Haan.

In "Levensloop" (Life Cycle), sculptures with titles directly related to their creator touch on the personal even more deeply. Sculptors like Natasja Bennink and Emile van der Kruk explicitly used their children as models; the titles make the viewer feel like a voyeur into the artist's home life.

More information about the exhibition 'Life Cycle' can be found in Fragment no. 27.