"Having seen the evolution of the concept since he first presented it in 1995, I feel I am in a good position to offer my point of view. In my opinion, the skull portraits are one of the most significant contemporary commentaries on what we know portraiture to be. De Cadenet is the first artist I am aware of who has chosen to present an individual person's skull as a 'portrait', a distilled image of traits that are unique to that person and belong to no one else. . The skull portraits seem to work on many levels, exploring notions of 'truth', 'vanity' and questioning the nature of what a portrait actually is. Their relationship to the 'Vanitas' still lifes popular in the 17th century opens a number of fascinating art-historical perspectives. The 'Skull Portraits' mask the recognizable identity of the subject but at the same time paradoxically reveal who the person really is inside, beneath the surface. It could be seen as a testament to their significance that Damien Hirst has recently appropriated the idea using x-ray photography to create his own 'Self-Portrait'. The skull portraits continue and extend the traditional functions of portraiture. They comment on the evolving legacy of the individual's life both while they are alive and after their demise". EDWARD LUCIE-SMITH SEPTEMBER 2009 |