Image: David Krut Projects, New York
On September 25, David Krut Art Space, New York, opened ‘The Collective Memory Archive,’ a new exhibition by Spanish-Dutch artist Raquel Maulwurf that runs through November 30.
The works depict rupture, war and ecocide, using charcoal and physical interventions into museum board to materialize violence and destruction.
By slashing open the surface of the museum board she works on with a box cutter, Maulwurf depicts violence through violence, materializing destruction in both the subject and the process of producing the work.
Charcoal, a manifestation of carbon in its final form once it has been burned for energy, is used here like a clue at a crime scene.
The artist’s work foregrounds the sublime power of nature, depicting dramatic moments of rupture as human activity wreaks havoc on the natural world through war and ecocide; she presents solemnly alarming depictions of violence and force alongside paradoxical images of beauty and destruction. ‘Burning XLIII’ (2025) is made with charcoal and pastel on museum board and measures 40 by 152 centimetres. ‘Leuchmarkierungen III’ (2025) is made with charcoal and pastel on museum board and measures 140 by 140 centimetres.
