Artist Talk: Marcelle Hanselaar on Rebel Women from The Apocrapha - LIVE

Please note this is NOT a ZOOM Lecture but an in person lecture. Tickets include a complimentary glass of Devil's Botany Absinthe.

Doors open at 6:30pm and talk starts at 7pm

The Last Tuesday Society & Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities, Fine Art & Unnatural History is delighted to invite you for an intimate conversation with Dutch Artist Marcelle Hanselaar in celebration of her upcoming exhibition: Rebel Women from The Apocrapha.

Rebel Women from The Apocrapha will be on view from 27th March - 7 July 2024.

Rebel Women from the Apocrypha - by Mark Golder

The fifteen stories chosen by Hanselaar as the catalyst for this series come from the Judaeo-Christian biblical tradition, but she does not come to them from a faith background. Rather, these stories about powerful women caught her imagination over a period of decades, starting with hearing the tale of ‘Jezebel’ when she was at primary school and seeing a painting of ‘Judith’ by Cranach the Elder once she was an adult. What she liked about them was the no-nonsense, I-will-do-it-my-way attitude of the women. As the artist puts it, “These ancient imaginary narratives give us a much-needed energising subversiveness” in a world where deep-seated patriarchal attitudes are far from dead.

Hanselaar has called all the women ‘rebels’ and she has used the word ‘feisty’ to describe them. It truly sums up this assortment of women. Look at each print and then decide which of the various meanings of ‘feisty’ applies: lively, determined, courageous, spirited, spunky, plucky, strong-willed, or adamant. All these women are rebels against a male-dominated order of things, but Hanselaar is not thereby arguing they are all ‘good’ people. Even a fully paid-up feminist might question Herodias and Salome as role models when they connive at the M**der of John the Baptist; and whilst Jezebel faces her death heroically she does have a previous history of M**der and extortion.

Marcelle Hanselaar

Born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands and growing up in the formal atmosphere of a protestant, postwar country, proved, thanks to her drop-out/turn-on rebellion, a profound source of inspiration for the recurring subject matter in Hanselaar’s work; namely the fierce and sometimes troubled cohabitation with those raw desires, secret fantasies and uncultivated instincts and our functioning in a civil society.
Although she studied briefly at the Royal Academy of Arts in The Hague, her lust for adventure, guided by a quest for self-discovery, led her to years of travel, until, in the early 80’s she settled down in her studio in London where she still lives.Self-taught, she started out as an abstract painter before turning to figuration.
At the same time she became fascinated by etching, its harsh, bitten line seemed to perfectly suit her subject matter.As an artist Hanselaar looks for ways to express those illusive questions of who and what we are when the mask is off, and how we appear when the mask is on. The shock effect of her work lies in the contrast of combining her outspoken subject matter with the conventional medium of oil painting or etching.

Both her paintings and her prints display her delight and fascination with theatrical illusions and although often peppered with a biting sense of humor, the works reveals her own vibrant understanding of human nature, in all its animosity and fragility.

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We are unable to give refunds for in person events with less than 7 days notice in any circumstances.

Event Venue

The Last Tuesday Society / Viktor Wynd's Museum of Curiosities, 11 Mare Street, London, United Kingdom