Lotta
Blokker

Haus der Niederlande, Münster

Museum Jan Cunen

Lotta Blokker - The Hour of the Wolf
http://www.museumjancunen.nl
The Hour of the Wolf is the hour between night and dawn. It is the hour when most people die, when sleep is deepest, when nightmares are most real. It is the hour when sleepless are haunted bu their deepest fear. 
It inspired sculptor Lotta Blokker to a group of bronze sculptures in all phases of life.
What happens at night, when the lights go out and the telephone no longer rings? When there are no appointments and the deep silence begins?’
The Dutch sculptor Lotta Blokker (Amsterdam 1980) often pondered over these questions, even as a child, as she lay awake and thought that everyone was asleep but her. Taking these memories as her starting point, she created the series entitled The Hour of the Wolf: nine life-size bronze sculptures that depict the feelings of the sleepless.
The figures from ‘The Hour of the Wolf’ series – on which Blokker worked for five years – transport visitors on a nocturnal journey to various emotions. There is an encounter with an elderly demented lady who is not sure of where she is, with a staring boy pressing his hand against a window, with a young woman who is lying naked and aggravated on the ground ‘While you feel lonely during those sleepless hours, you do not realize that you are sharing this sleeplessness with many others. They, too, lie awake in the darkness, anxious or sorrowful about things that have happened or are about to happen. Or they may be excited and hopeful about what is coming. Whereas daytime provides distraction, the night – agreeably or otherwise – gives the opportunity to retreat into yourself. Your imagination goes on the rampage, ideas bubble up, solutions appear out of nowhere.’ There are no further diversions in the night and feelings can no longer be suppressed. Blokker describes her project as a nocturnal, intimate confrontation with ourself. ‘What I find so attractive in people is their sincere emotion. That is something you feel at night mostly, when people have to fall back upon themselves.’ Her bronzes are more than figures of people of flesh and blood. They are symbolic portraits that function as a mirror, so that we can recognize ourselves.

Käthe-Kollwitz-Museum Berlin

IN DIALOGUE WITH KÄTHE KOLLWITZ: LOTTA BLOKKER

The Käthe Kollwitz Museum in Berlin places works by young Dutch sculptor Lotta Blokker in dialogue with works by Käthe Kollwitz.
This dialogue shows how differently the younger and the older artist tackle such themes as love, death, joy, and pain. Käthe Kollwitz has been a source of inspiration for Lotta Blokker since her formative years. This is Lotta Blokker’s first exhibition in Berlin.
A catalogue, “Lotta Blokker: The Hour of the Wolf”, has been published to accompany the exhibition (Dutch, English, German; 128 pages, €25).

Panorama Museum, Bad Frankenhausen

LOTTA BLOKKER - THE HOUR OF THE WOLF

Museum de Fundatie, Zwolle

LOTTA BLOKKER - THE HOUR OF THE WOLF

‘What happens at night, when the lights go out and the telephone no longer rings? When there are no appointments and the deep silence begins?’
The Dutch sculptor Lotta Blokker (Amsterdam 1980) often pondered over these questions, even as a child, as she lay awake and thought that everyone was asleep but her. Taking these memories as her starting point, she created the series entitled The Hour of the Wolf: nine life-size bronze sculptures that depict the feelings of the sleepless. Museum de Fundatie will display this intimate project, in which Blokker gives expression to her yearning to be able to come close to someone else, from 30 August 2014 to 4 January 2015. In addition to this work, she exhibits various other figurative works in which she has managed to capture the soul of the subject portrayed. Blokker’s sculptures have enormous eloquence. In contrast to her young and delicate appearance, her hands are those of an experienced, established artist. Similar to the French sculptor August Rodin, Blokker also creates expressive sculptures that approach the oeuvre of German artist Käthe Kollwitz in their vulnerable allure. This makes her work powerful and impressive, but also very human and recognizable.