Retrospective Exhibition Lin May Saeed
Lin May Saeed (DE, 1973-2023) was a German artist who dedicated her life and work to the promotion of animal rights. In her imaginative work, the agency of the non-human living world takes center stage. Primarily active as a sculptor, Saeed favored Styrofoam as her medium of choice, creating an imaginative universe full of sovereign animal figures that seem to have run away from myths and fables, all rendered in her distinctive visual language. By opting for a basic, synthetic and non-biodegradable material like Styrofoam, Saeed situates her work materially within the discourse of the Anthropocene.
Her sculptures, reliefs and drawings depict a non-human world brimming with hope and optimism, where animals have reclaimed their dignity and liberated themselves from human domination. Saeed's work is both critical and humorous, offering a fresh perspective on the complex relationship between humans and non-human life, without resorting to moralism.
The Herd at the Watering Hole marks the first presentation of the late artist’s work in the Netherlands. Featuring around 20 works, it provides a cohesive overview of Saeed’s oeuvre. With this retrospective exhibition of Lin May Saeed, Kasteel Wijlre estate reaffirms its commitment to showcasing internationally significant artists whose work critically and imaginatively explores the relationship between humanity and nature. Saeed previously participated in the group exhibition Spark Birds & the Loneliness of Species, which took place at the estate in 2023. The exhibition is made possible with the cooperation of the Estate of Lin May Saeed in Frankfurt.
On Sunday 18 May, in collaboration with Goethe-Institut (Amsterdam) and Jan van Eyck Academie (Maastricht), Kasteel Wijlre estate presented a public programme with lectures and presentations around the topic of the human-animal relationship and interspecies solidarity.
