Raphaël Dallaporta, 2010
Blood, from the series Fragile, 2010
Created by Raphaël Dallaporta in 2010. The artwork is a dye destruction print process of an original ektachrome slide, Ilfochrome print by Choï in Paris and displayed at 150 x 120 cm.
Both death and the human anatomy are frequently occurring themes in art. How can you document something as sensitive as death? In contrast to the grief and horrors often associated with death, the French artist Raphaël Dallaporta treats the death of a person with the same businesslike approach as doctor Tulp in Rembrandt’s famous painting, The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp. For his series Fragile, Humorous, Dallaporta worked with a team of forensic physicians to determine the cause of death. Blood shows a drop of blood against a black background, but also resembles the image of an eye’s pupil and iris. The result is a purely rational image of death, without any of the customary emotions.
© Raphaël Dallaporta, courtesy of the Foam Collection