Sander Coers: Circus

HeritageXplore x The Dot Project

Circus is a body of work by Sander Coers, developed in collaboration with The Dot Project and HeritageXplore during a residency at Maxstoke Castle, a privately owned historic estate in Warwickshire, England.

Exploring the theatrical nature of aristocracy, the series draws connections between medieval imagery, childhood imagination and the visual language through which status, identity and power have historically been expressed.

Drawing inspiration from objects, architectural features and decorative details found throughout the castle, Coers became particularly interested in the ways aristocratic life has been represented through symbols of status, masculinity and authority.

Among these were a knight’s armour, paintings from the castle’s collection, a weather vane and a handmade toy horse passed down through generations of the family.

Together, these objects form a constellation of personal and historical references, offering an intimate and playful entry point into the castle’s past.

The series also revisits Coers’ childhood fascination with medieval knights and castles, a world once associated with heroism, adventure and romantic ideals of masculinity.

Reconsidering these images from an adult perspective, he began to recognise unexpected parallels between aristocratic life and the circus: two worlds shaped by spectacle, elaborate costumes, ritual and the performance of power.

Working across analogue photography, artificial intelligence and collage, Coers transforms these references into theatrical characters, exaggerating their forms and placing them somewhere between historical artefacts, childhood toys and imagined figures.
The resulting images are printed onto wooden panels, stained using locally produced wood stain and enclosed in metal frames. The choice of materials establishes a tangible connection with the castle and its surroundings, while giving the works an almost sculptural, object-like presence.

Moving between documentation and fiction, Circus considers how history is romanticised, performed and reconstructed, and how the images encountered in childhood continue to inform our understanding of masculinity, power and the past.

Set against the distinctive backdrop of Maxstoke Castle, the exhibition brings contemporary artistic interpretation into dialogue with the enduring material, architectural and personal histories of this remarkable historic house.

 Artist-in-Residence Programme |  Summer–Autumn 2026