Raquel Maulwurf Dark days - Bright nights

The things mankind is capable of: endless procreating and killing, creating and fireraising, embracing and strangling, hating and loving. We are proficient in all of these. This is who we are. Raquel Maulwurf examines the dark side of human nature and shows us the havoc we wreak. She records our failings and depicts the doom that we call down upon ourselves. We look into the dark charcoal mirror that she holds in front of us.? Cherry Duyns, writer, theatre- and filmmaker Over the past decade, Spanish/Dutch artist Raquel Maulwurf (Madrid, 1975) has gained a unique position with her drawings depicting the untameable forces of nature as well as human shortcomings. Maulwurf is fascinated by humankind?s relentless urge for destruction that results in the devastation of his own habitat by war and ecocide. By working with a very large format and creating wall drawings that cover several walls, she previously captured the feeling of ?walking into a drawing?. This third dimension was also added literally from the moment she began scratching the museum board she uses for her drawings with a box cutter. This publication is issued on the occasion of her solo exhibition at the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag for which she developed the installation The Carbon War Room. It arose from the desire to physically create the depth that is evoked in her charcoal drawings. This extraordinary book comprehends images of the works from the exhibition and a wide selection from Maulwurf?s rich oeuvre of the past ten years. Photos of her studios and magnificent close-ups of the special scratching technique which Maulwurf applies in her work, give a good impression of her creative process. With text contributions by Benno Tempel, director of the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag and Jeroen Dijkstra of Livingstone Gallery and quotes from renowned art professionals and critics like Cherry Duyns and Hans den Hartog Jager