The invitation to Paul de Reus’ recent show depicted a young boy standing outside a closed door, waiting to be let in; by bending the corner of the card, one could see the same boy standing in a corner as though he had been punished and was waiting for a reprieve. These images—the original, folded version of which, entitled THUIS (At home/at ease; all works 1996), formed the centerpiece of the show—suggested an anxious need for security and intimacy.

The world de Reus’ exhibition depicted was both unsettling and absurd. Inside the gallery the young Dutch artist built a wall out of wood, dividing