LISSE.- The LAM museum in Lisse has added Dishwasher by the Cuban-American artist Anthony Goicolea to its international food art collection. This oil painting perfectly aligns with the museum’s mission to reveal the extraordinary in the everyday.

Dishwasher

The painting depicts a young dishwasher asleep in a wooden chair, dressed in kitchen whites and wearing a single bright yellow rubber glove. He is slumped over a table piled high with dirty plates, bowls, cups and wine glasses. “The endless amount of work will resonate with many”, says museum director Sietske van Zanten. “No matter how hard you work, the dirty dishes just keep coming. It’s enough to make you feel hopeless.”

Washing up with Munch and Morandi

Anthony Goicolea’s work is known for its references to other artists. “I borrow fragments from art history”, he explains. “It’s never imitation — it’s a conversation with what came before.” Dishwasher includes nods to the famous Norwegian artist Edvard Munch (1863–1944) and the Italian painter Giorgio Morandi (1890–1964). The zigzag lines in the clothing and glasses echo Munch’s distinctive jigsaw technique, while a painting of bottles in the background pays homage to a still life by Morandi.

Open to interpretation

The artist prefers to leave interpretation to his audience: “Some people might see beauty or humour in my work, while others might find the same piece heartbreaking or disturbing. The viewer decides what it means.”

Anthony Goicolea

Born in 1971 to a Cuban family in Atlanta, USA, Anthony Goicolea now lives and works in New York. He creates paintings, drawings, photographs, videos and art installations. His work has been exhibited at leading art institutions, including the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, the International Center of Photography in New York and Museo Reina Sofia in Madrid. Works by Goicolea have been acquired by major New York museums, such as the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim Museum of Art.

From Amsterdam to Lisse

Dishwasher is currently on display at the exhibition It Won’t Always Be the Same Again at Galerie Ron Mandos in Amsterdam, where the LAM museum acquired the piece. The exhibition runs until 13 July 2025, after which the painting will move to its new permanent home at the LAM museum on the Keukenhof Estate in Lisse.