Phaidon and Artspace are pleased to present day at night, a new series of ten unique embroidered prints on canvas by contemporary artist Michael Raedecker. Released on the occasion of Raedecker’s new comprehensive Phaidon survey, each limited edition includes a signed copy of the publication as well as a signed Certificate of Authenticity.
Since the beginning of his career as a painter, Raedecker has incorporated embroidery into his works as a means of challenging the conventional hierarchy of fine art techniques. His new day at night editions include thread, paint, and glitter hand-applied throughout, making each piece a singular work of art.
Raedecker’s practice as a whole is engaged with a process of re-contextualizing familiar ideas and spaces, asking the viewer to question held assumptions. Swimming pools are a recurring subject for Raedecker, who is fascinated by the ways in which paintings of pools can be containers of fantasy, reality, and peculiarity.
“Swimming pools, for me, mean leisure, summertime, and being outside of your usual surroundings. And I am in particular talking about the suburban, outdoor pool here. This is one of the ultimate places that embellishes the pleasure principle. A place created where one can forget the outside world. A carefully created paradisiacal zone where one also simultaneously realises that this is not really real; it is perhaps all too good to be true. But an ideal and powerful prop and construct for a painting.” — Michael Raedecker
