NZ & International Fine Art - Evening Sale Wednesday, 4 May 2022 - 6:00 PM start
Ruud van Empel (Dutch. b 1958) - World #6
Lot Details
Ruud van Empel (Dutch. b 1958) World #6 cibachrome, mounted to Plexiglas, edition 9/# 7 signed, inscribed and dated 2005 (on reverse) 105 x 150 cm PROVENANCE Purchased from Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland c2006 Private collection Auckland EXHIBITED Stephan Stux Gallery, New York, 2006 World, a series of photographs by the internationally acclaimed photographer Ruud van Empel. The series consists of children in an idyllic Eden-like wilderness. With poses reminiscent of classical portrait painting, the features of the children are slightly out of proportion, indicating that not all is as it seems. Everything about the image is a little too perfect; the vegetation is too green, the water too blue. In fact this child, with his flawless smooth skin and beautiful piercing eyes, does not exist at all – he is a composite of images digitally stitched together. Van Empel collects hundreds of images; from photographing models in his studio to exploring the Dutch forests for shots of unspoiled vegetation. He then dissects these images and collages them into new surreal utopias. Van Empel’s World series depicts black children as symbols of innocence, beauty and purity; in contrast to the often-negative representation of black youth in the media. This juxtaposition was encapsulated by art historian Jean Baptist Bedaux when he said: “In deviating from the standard iconography by giving the child a dark skin, van Empel inadvertently assumes a political stance. After all, this child is still the focus of discrimination and its innocence is not recognised by everyone as being self-evident.” Van Empel’s work skillfully traverses a new digitally-enhanced approach to image making, taking only the most flawless of reality to create a hyper-real world so decidedly unreal.
