Editorial

Ever since childhood I was fascinated by photography and, as of the age of twelve, composed my photo albums with my own photos and clippings. I used to create scenes as I imagined them, cut out people I didn’t want to appear, and collaged the pages with all sorts of found stuff. I documented my life, my camera always with me; my private little diary. But mostly: I collected people.

1980 I began painting; taking pictures – mostly 135mm zoom snap-shot portraits – continued being my hobby. However, the advent of digital photography brought the opportunity to work on the pictures with the computer and I became hooked. In the beginning I made only small corrections, just for fun. Later, I began making collages of my paintings on the screen, thus taking intended shots of specific parts and objects for collage-on-the-screen purpose. The natural boundaries between painting and photography melted away as I started to use my computer more like paint and paintbrush. Then, I applied the printed picture on to canvas and worked in further details with acrylic.

This approach allows me to better express my singular view of things, from surreal to impossible. Some situations are entirely staged, some totally spontaneous. Some series are reportages, like in the case of my trip to Israel. This technique also enables me to express controversial subjects as sense or nonsense in life, whether virtual, real or ironical. They become dense stories which mostly "happen to me" whilst viewing my collected material (objet-trouvé in form of freebie cards, pamphlets, advertising, articles, etc.). The texts I use go from Elias Canetti to Maxim Biller, from unknown people or from me. Are my pictures really the result of fiction?
 - madelaine Linden -

CV

1954 born in Montevideo, Uruguay
 
1972  Baccalauréat in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 6 Jahre history of art
 
1973-1984  lived in Lausanne, Geneva, Brussels and New York
 
1985 moved to Hamburg 
 
1989 independent artist
 
2000 moved to in Stuttgart
 
 
Exhibitions
 
1994 mc Systemhaus, Hamburg: "Die Farbe Leben"
 
1996 mc Systemhaus, Hamburg: "...Ende vom Ende vom Anfang"
 
1996 Galerie "Kunst Kontor", Hamburg, "von A bis Z", group exhibition, 10 artists 
 
1997 Galerie Georgi, Hamburg, group exhibition, three artists
 
1999 Ateliers Rotherbaum, Hamburg, "7/99"
 
2001 Altonaer Theater, Hamburg
 
2002 L&C, Stuttgart, with Stephan Thörner
 
2006 Visumed, Stuttgart, with Stephan Thörner 
 
2007 Sympra, Stuttgart, three artists

          Contrast-gallery Bruxelles – Preview.

Technique :
- collage virtuel sur papier Epson heavy matt, marouflé sur toile,
- collage virtuel sur aluminium 3 mm
 - collage virtuel sur papier photo métallique, monté sur aluminium 3mm.

Technic :
- Virtual collage on Epsen heavy matte paper on canvas,
- Virtual collage on aluminium 3 mm
- Virtual collage on metallic photo paper, on aluminium 3 mm.