Mutty | 'The Oldest Thing': Ruth van Beek

The artist, presenting this work for the first time in Italy, has chosen to complement Mutty's commitment to the world of childhood by designing an exhibition that is interesting for children as well. Her work, straddling photography and painting, possesses an intimate sensitivity with ironic and playful nuances, appealing to both children and adults.

In the book, which serves as the starting point for the exhibition, ordinary objects take on a life of their own. Van Beek delves into her extensive archive of continually growing images, exploring the subtle boundaries between studio and domestic life. In the constellations of images on display, a visual rhyme of ovals emerges, paying homage to the recurring feminine tasks of everyday life—such as cooking, mending, embroidery, and caring for children—and tracing the origin of her interest in household manuals and books to her mother, who passed away when she was a child.

"My mother left me three binders with carefully copied recipes and pasted images. I never made any of these recipes. I kept them for other reasons. It's the care that moves me, the index, the neat handwriting, the faded pages. What does a mother leave behind? How do you add value to a family's daily activities? My mother died when I was fifteen. I never knew her as a woman. This has meant she has always remained a maternal figure. The things I learned from her were those of an old-fashioned mother-daughter relationship: cooking, knitting, gardening. She had attended a domestic science school and was a patient craftsman. This is probably where my fascination with sewing and household books began. I learned a lot from her, but not everything. And in this incompleteness lies a precious resource for me. Like a warm memory to look back on, but at the same time, it is closed and distorted by the passage of time. This incompleteness is present in all my work." - Ruth van Beek

The images, mainly taken from old books and specialized magazines, become her tools, the starting material on which she physically intervenes—folding, cutting, or adding pieces of painted paper—reorganizing and manipulating the image. This gives rise to new images that attract and seduce us as something alive, an animated form that evokes emotions. The figures are playfully created by the artist without preconceiving them but rather allowing herself to be surprised in turn.

During the opening evening, there will also be a talk between Ruth van Beek and Giulia Zorzi from Micamera (Milan). The event at Mutty will be the first presentation of the book in Italy, an unmissable appointment for the Italian audience who loves Van Beek's work and contemporary photography projects in general. The book "The Oldest Thing" was selected as a finalist at the Aperture/Paris Photo photobook awards 2023.