Lord of Misrule

Winkhaus’ work is an impressive engagement with the political and social issues of our time, a sharp observation of our gestures and their masquerade. Her art exposes the invisible structures that determine our social life, not by staging the underground chambers as a contrast to the upper world, but as its hidden inner framework. Here, the subversion of the ordinary becomes visible, an invitation to self-reflection, a call for emancipation.

Just as the "Lord of Misrule" once turned the world upside down for a moment, Winkhaus continues the tradition of the fool, who is both revealer and revealed. Her visual worlds are directly connected to historical figures from Carnival, Dadaism, and absurd theatre – an echo of Hieronymus Bosch, James Ensor, and the cynical clowns of George Grosz. In this lineage, she conquers new artistic spaces by breaking the boundaries of photography. She enriches the visual findings of the eye with an emotional depth, making the viewer themselves a participant in her staging.

Learning – in the sense of fearless, curious exploration – is a central theme of her work. Where we, as spectators, still believe we remain at a comfortable distance, Winkhaus takes the ground from beneath our feet. In "Lord of Misrule," we encounter a world that is unsettling but not necessarily frightening, for it also offers the possibility of transformation. The masks of society fall – only to be replaced by others.

And so, the community of the evening finally gathers: a grotesque feast, a circle of clown-disciples celebrating the last supper of decadence. The "Lord of Misrule" leads the ceremony, where hierarchies crumble one last time. In the faces of the participants, Carnival and catastrophe, ecstasy and the end times, are reflected. At the table of Winkhaus’ art history, they are all present: Pierrot and Harlequin, the survivors of Breughel’s bacchanalian dance, the metamorphoses of an unstoppable game. And we? Are we spectators, or have we already become participants in this absurd, wonderfully boundless spectacle?