Mind Games, London

 

Exhibition at Soane's Museum, 13 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London WC2A 3BP
July 2026 - Open

​

"A major retrospective celebrating the surreal, subversive practice of artist Madelon Vriesendorp is now open at Sir John Soane’s Museum.

Dutch artist Madelon Vriesendorp (b. 1945) has been a lifelong collector. Like Sir John Soane, she has gathered artwork and objects throughout her career, arranging them in her home and using them as sources of inspiration. For Vriesendorp, the things she collects are themselves a generative force. She observes and understands the world through the objects in it, looking at everything through a surrealist lens. This way of seeing has influenced a unique practice in which humour, play, collecting and collaboration are at the fore. Fundamentally, Vriesendorp makes things that make her laugh.
 

Over the decades, her work has been embraced by architects and architectural writers alike for its ability to give architectural theories memorable identities, helping to explain the complex ideas behind modern and postmodern architecture. Ranging from early etchings, drawings and book covers to more recent work including jewellery, new works on paper and sculpture, this exhibition explores the creativity and imagination of an artist whose way of seeing continues to influence architects and artists today."

​​

Excerpt from Soane's Museum

"...Madelon Vriesendorp: Mind Games will feature over 50 works created or collected by the 2025 Soane Medal winner, which reveal the artist’s ability to transform everyday materials into unexpected sources of humour, beauty and inspiration..... A large-scale version of her celebrated Mind Game will also be showcased, allowing visitors to closely examine a series of purposefully chosen objects that comprise a psychoanalytical toolkit.

 

Vriesendorp’s work tends to be both surreal and playful, showcasing a lifelong interest in games and investigating how the perception of the viewer can change the nature or meaning of an object. This can be clearly seen in Critical Pursuit Home Analysis Kit, commonly known as the Mind Game - part boardgame, part psychoanalytic diagnostic - which has been fascinating audiences around the world for two decades. Members of the public and Soane staff will be invited to rearrange these pieces at several points throughout the exhibition’s run.

​

The exhibition will also feature a recent series of sculptures – Plastic Surgery – made from recycled plastic bottles and packaging, for example swans made from milk bottles as well as elephants and priests made from cleaning bottles. Other unusual materials include eggs, which have been transformed into dictators from the last 100 years. Prising out new meanings from everyday items, and often elevating their materials, these sculptures are an example of how Vriesendorp creates new ways of interacting with the world around us...."

​

​