Hendricks, Geoffrey: My Ladder (1993)

Among the Fluxus artist’s earlier works we also find similar objects under the title Sky Ladder—each made from old barn ladders with seven or eight rungs. The rungs frame his watercolors of the sky and of the different phases of the moon. Although he worked in several media, Hendricks stood out from the circle of Fluxus artists by his insistence on the medium of painting. It is no coincidence that Dick Higgins called him a “cloudsmith,” as he devoted himself with near-obsessive persistence to his long-term project. He painted the changing sky with its planets and clouds on every imaginable surface—from a Volkswagen Beetle to his own body—following his self-imposed 1965 instruction: PAINT SKY ON EVERYTHING.

These paintings speak simultaneously about time and about different kinds of change. While he sought to create a “dictionary of images,” in the case of the recurring ladder motif it is difficult to ignore its culturally loaded and symbolically rich associations. Across many cultures, the ladder serves as a connector between the earthly and celestial spheres. Whereas the sky symbolizes change, the ladder points toward the infinite. The ladder enables two-way movement—a metaphor of transition—while its rungs also allude to the gradual stages of spiritual practice.

His 1993 exhibition at Galéria 56 likewise emphasized the linking of heaven and earth, presenting boots painted with clouds. Beyond his important activist work, the artist’s oeuvre stands as a vital example of uniting art and life, as well as myth.