Gallery Terra Tokyo, Kamiyacho
Closes May 23
Ruud Van Empel's 2008 series of large and medium format prints on display at Gallery Terra Tokyo ([03] 5575-6685; www.galleryterratokyo.jp) present variations on a unifying theme, composed of scores of original photographs of children and nature. "World #28," for example, shows a skinny black girl in a red velvet dress with a lacy white collar and matching pink gloves, a handbag and ribbons in her pig-tailed hair. Cropped from the ankles up, she is backed by a thicket of large, leafy plants that glow a saturated green.
"Down #3" finds a tightly framed white girl with blonde hair, blue eyes, blushing cheeks and sky-blue cardigan reclining on her side in a field of white and violet flowers, and "Moon #7" shows a black girl in a light blue, sleeveless satin evening dress sitting in a winsome "thinking" position against a nighttime desert landscape. These latter works strongly recall the commercial photography found in seasonal catalogs for mass-market American brands such as JC Penney and Land's End. But van Empel should move beyond the narcissism of flawless technical execution to something that can push his subject matter into more unexpected territory.
Speaking to The Japan Times, van Empel explained that his work was an investigation of beauty and innocence. He said that his prominent use of black models is an attempt to challenge traditional European representations of innocence that idealize fair hair and skin. However, without specific references, this comes across as a value-added gesture rather than meaningful provocation. What remains are still stereotypes of children, regardless of skin color.
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