Berend Strik’s Swimming Pool Franschhoek (2008)Courtesy of the artist and Tilton Gallery
Artist Berend Strik Throws History’s Gloomiest Pool Party
Berend Strik travels through Africa, capturing the people, the architecture, the postcolonial scenes. Then he develops the images to massive proportions — about as wide as a basketball player is tall — and takes a needle to them. His stitched velvet makes idyllic scenes appear at once more glamorous and more phony than they really are — and sometimes more horrifying. See Strik’s new collection of giant images at Tilton Gallery uptown through June 21. —Emma Pearse