The name of my exhibition at Maczul (Museum of Contemporary Art, Maracaibo, Venezuela) opening on Saturday 26th of November refers to my longstanding admiration for Henri Matisse as something of an insider joke. Henry Hair Mattress was the name which Chicago students christened him with in their protest against the 1913 Armory Show, which travelled from New York to Chicago and where 80% of the city came to see this scandalous exhibition of modern art. Crookedfield is a rendition of my surname.
This is a preliminary series of photographs of the construction of an interactive installation for the exhibition, the original drawing was from 1996 and in the magnificent Room 1 at Maczul I finally found the space to build it. The 1 ton roll of rubber had to be moved by a group of soldiers from the 342 Batallon de Comunicaciones GB Pedro Briceño Mendez. My thanks and appreciation to Rafael Machado who calculated the design in PVC pipes, Stephany Sanchez who was untiring in her determination to see it built, Carlos who finally helped put it altogether and everyone at Maczul who contributed to getting this ready.
Natalya Critchley 
