ALEXANDER DE CADENET
Artist Information and Statement
AlexanderdeCadenet’sartrevealsasearchformeaninginspiredbyhislife experiences.Hisartworkscombinethesacredwiththehumorous
Hismostwidelyknownworksaretheongoingseriesofphotographic‘Skull Portraits’basedonx-raysofhissubjects,whichexplorethethemesoffame, life/deathandtheroleofportraiture.Hisothercelebratedworksaresculptures castoutofextra-terrestrialmeteoritemetalandtheLife-Linepaintingsonmetal sheets.
DeCadenet’sartusesapersonalyetuniversallanguageofsymbolism,which includesskulls,femaleforms,reticulatedpaintsurfaces,circles,apples,stars, shadowsormulti-colouredpaintedlinesasmetaphorsoflife-journeys.
Skull Portraits
The‘skullportraits’weredevelopedinthemid1990’sandtheconceptwasfirst presentedin1996atashowentitled,‘Atmosphere’.
Sincetheirinception,theskullshaveevolvedstylistically.Thefirstskullportrait presentedinawarehousespaceontheKingsRoadinChelseawasanactual radiographoftheartist’sownheadcutoutfromitsblackbackgroundand sandwichedinbetweentwosheetsofclearPerspexsuspendedfromtheceiling.
In2000,thefirstmulti-colouredskullcibachromephotographicportraitswere presentedattheMuseumofModernArtOstendandalsothecelebrated30 UnderwoodStreetGalleryinShoreditch,agalleryshowingworksbymanyofthe YBA’ssuchasChrisOffilli,TracyEminandGavinTurkaswellasinternationalartists suchasIraqi.Thiscollectionofskullsentitled Celebrities Series werethelargest sizedworkstodate–5feetwideby10feethigh.Theseworkswerealsopresented inthemiddleoftheKenyanbushinashowattendedbymanyoftheMasaitribe livinginthearea,andresultedintheskullportraitoftheChiefoftheMasaibeing flowntoNairobitohavehisskullportraitmade.ThiswasthenauctionedbyChristy TurlingtonforthebenefitoftheTanzaniaWildlifeFund.
Otherseriesofsubjectsfollowed, Religious Subjects atTheMuseumofEmotions, (2000), British Spies atTheCourtauldInstituteofArt,(2003), The Hitler Skull Portrait,AquariumGallery,(2005)andtheskullsformingpartofthe Life-Force exhibitionattheAlexiaGoetheGallery(2010).
Since1997therehasbeenawiderangeofsubjectsinavarietyofsituations includingsinglesubjects,maritalportraits,groupsorfamilies.SubjectsincludeMike SkinneroftheStreets,YasminleBon,TheMarquisofBath,GucciFamily,Isabel Goldsmith,SebastianSainsbury,ChiefBirikanioftheMassaiTribe,JakeandDinos Chapman,GavinTurk,SterlingMoss,PharaohTutankhamun,RogerAckling,Tibetan BuddhistLamaGeshiTashi,DameStellaRimingtonandOlegGordievsky.
Critics
Time Out havereferredtohisskullportraitsasa‘Post-popspinonphrenology’, whileEdwardLucie-Smithhasfeaturedtheportraitsinhisbook, Movements in Art Since 1945 byThamesandHudsonand Art Tomorrow byTerrail.
SarahWilson,HeadofModernArtatCourtauldInstituteofArthaswritten,“De Cadenet’sSkullPortraitsre-energisethelonghistoriesofthepaintedvanitas…. ThereisaghoulishhumourindeCadenet’sjestwiththeskullimage:thesewill persist,ofcourselongafterwebecomecrematoriumdust”.
OliverBasciano,deputyeditorofArtReviewhaswrittenontheskullportraits,“The artistasksus,nottoconsiderthecosmicandmetaphoricalinoppositiontothe ordinary,butasbeingpartofit,integraltoit”.
RichardDyer,NewsEditorof Contemporary magazineandAssistantEditorof Third Text writes,“DeCadenetstronglyinvokestropesfromtheHistoryofPaintingin ordertoinvestcontemporarysceneswithanatmosphereofeternalrecurrence,a senseoftheinevitabilityofeverylife,everydeath”.
MegaklesRokos,CuratorAmericanCollegeofGreecewrites,“DeCadenet’sartisan intersectionbetweenthetangibleandtheintangible.Tangibleisthephysicalx-ray withitsrecordofthebonycranium.Intangibleisthemetaphysicaldimensionofthe soulthatremainsinvisibleandunrecordable.ThroughtheperspectiveofthexrayedskulldeCadenetoffersanexperiencethatisessentiallybeyondnatural portraiture”.
TarnyaCooper,ChiefCurator,NationalPortraitMuseumLondonwrote,“Lookingat theheadsasaset,werealizethatshouldwelearntoreadtheseimages,these reflectionscouldeasilybeasdistinctiveasconventionalportraits…..Theseimages arememorialsbeforedeath,notdesignedtoservicethesoulonajourneyelsewhere butinparttoawakenoursensetoourownlivingcorporeality.Theydonotrecord lossbutreveallife.Eachheadrepresentinganunveilingofhumanformand uniquelyinformingthesubjectoftheirinternalself,whileallowingtheviewera certainlevelofcontemplationwithoutthepathosofearlier vanitas.Inthissense theseworksactasacelebrationofexistencewhilesimultaneouslyquestioningthe valueofworldlyendeavourbyprovidingaviewoftheunseen,thepotential
remnantofourphysicalbeing.AsliketheJuddportraitswhichisactuallybeheldisa previewofourown‘ende’.Thisemotivedynamicbetweenthecommemorationof livesandtheunseenphysicalityoftheskullispartofthedrawofthissetofwork”.
HarrietMuellercriticforinArtofEnglandmagazinehaswrittenontheskull portraits:“DeCadenetseekstopushtheboundariesofmodernportraiture, endeavouringtocapturenotonlythephysicalbutthemetaphysicalaspectsofthe subjectsidentity”.
Onthemeteoritesculptures:“Byusingsuchavaluablecompound,anairofhistory andreverencecanbegiventothemostbanalanddisposableofeverydayobjects”.
EXHIBITIONS AND PARTICIPATION HISTORY
ALEXANDER DE CADENET b. 1974
Lives and works in London and L os Angeles
EDUCATION
1992 Lincoln-Seligmann Art Prize, Harrow School
1996 B.A., Courtauld Institute of Art, London 2:1 (Thesis 1:1)
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2012 'Meditations on Higher Consciousness', Werkstatt Gallery, Berlin
2010 'Life-Force', Alexia Goethe Gallery , London
2009 'Demi-Monde', F-ISH Gallery, Hastings
2008 23 Upper Cheyne Row Gallery
2005 ‘Historical Subjects Skull Portraits: Adolph Hitler', Aquarium Gallery, London. ‘Love You', Aquarium Gallery, London
2003 ‘British Spies Skull Portraits', Courtauld Institute of Art, London
1999 ‘Celebrities Skull Portraits Series', 30 Underwood Street Gallery, London
1999 ‘Erection of the Maasai Golgotha', Installation in Kenyan Bush
1998 Super-Models Skull Portraits Series', Victoria & Albert Museum, London
1997 ‘Interconnections', Notting Hill Arts Club, London
1996 ‘Atmosphere', The Mark, London
1993 ‘Black Circles', Cadogan Gallery, London
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2012 Museum of Torrance, California, Group Show
2011 'IN BETWEEN', Speicherhallen Hamburg und Werkstattgalerie Berlin, Germany .
2008 Gallery Marino, Rome Beijing National Museum (official Olympic Selection of Prints), Beijing Old Harrovian Photographers, Harrow School, London .
2007 New Contemporaries, Art Basel, Miami Old Harrovian Artists, Sotheby's, London.
2006 V Project, Trafalgar Square, London ‘Gothic', Tate Britain, London.
2005 ‘Hitler Skull Portrait', Port Elliot Literary Festival, London ‘Religious Subjects Skull Portraits', T1+2 Gallery, London.
2004 ‘Pax Britannica', Aquarium Gallery, London ‘Skull Portraits of Jake and Dinos Chapman', Aquarium Gallery, London.
2001 ‘What's New from London', Orion Gallery, Ostende ‘Between Heaven & Earth', Museum of Modern Art, Ostende, ‘Celebrity Skull Portraits', Museum of Modern Art, Ostende .
2000 ‘The Scream', VTO Gallery, London ‘This is the end my friend, the end...', Polstar Art Programme @ Home, London ‘Religious Subjects Skull Portraits', Museum of (Emotions), London.
1994 ‘Fame Killers', Fete Worse than Death, Hoxton Square, London .
PARTICIPATIONS (SELECTION)
2013 International Art Circle, Hamburg
2013 Istanbul International with Andipa Gallery
2013 Strarta Art Fair at Saastchi Gallery with Andipa Gallery, London
2011 ArtVilnius, presented by Werkstattgalerie, Berlin, Germany
2009 Art and Design Pavilion, presented by Osborne Samuel Gallery, London
2008 Zoo Art Fair, presented by T1+2 Gallery, London
2006 Zoo Art Fair, presented by T1+2 Gallery, London. Chicago Art Fair, presented by T1+2 Gallery, London
2005 Zoo Art Fair, presented by T1+2 Gallery, London
LECTURES
1999 ‘Erection of the Maasai Golgotha', The Courtauld Institute of Art, London ‘Erection of the Maasai Golgotha', The Royal Geographical Society, London
1995 ‘Liberty: The Value of the Koestler Awards Scheme', Independent Art Space, London
PRESS AND PUBLICATIONS (SELECTION)
2011 'Unmasking the Identity of Inspiration' Art of England, Harriet Mueller 2010 'Fame. Death and the Gucci's', Homa Nasab, Art Info
2005 ‘Artist Gets Inside Hitler's Head', Paul Arandt, The Guardian
2004 ‘Xray(t)ed Portraits: The Revealing Art of Alexander de Cadenet', Scott Tillett, Photodistrict News
2003 Alexander de Cadenet, Mike Skinner, Black Book Magazine Alexander de Cadenet, Edward Lucie-Smith, Art Tomorrow 'Spy Unmasked', Jilly Beattie, Daily Mirror
2000 Alexander de Cadenet, Edward Lucie-Smith, Movements in Art since 1945
Cover/Back Cover, 'Edward Lucie Smith', Fidget Magazine
1999 ‘A Post-Pop Spin on Phrenology...The Huge Brightly Coloured Skulls Have Instant Visual Impact', Julia Thrift, Time Out ‘X-Ray Artist Gets Inside the Head of Jonathan Aitken', Cathy Milner, Sunday Telegraph ‘Celebrity X-rays Set for New Art Craze', Vanessa Thorpe, The Observer ‘Artist to Sell Aitken's Skull', Senay Boztas, The Sunday Times, 'Alex DE Cadenet, Saatchi Gallery', Masako Masaoka, Japanese Art World
1998 'Skull-Duggery', Shelly Smith, V&A News.
Private Collections - in London, Paris, Berlin, Mumbai, New York, and Los Angeles.
REPRESENTION:
Andipa Gallery, UK
Alexia Goethe Fine Arts, France
Werkstatt Gallery, Germany