John I. White

MVSCVLO

Gruesome - once.

- 1996

A disturbing image inspired by 16th C. Italian anatomist Vesalius. I prepared an experimental ground - tissue paper stuck messily onto card with PVA glue; hoping that the result would inspire me. It did. The texture was reminscent of veins so I began to sketch in coloured China-Graph [oily pencil used in Film editing] I went back into it with gouche & watercolours which happily refused to sit on the oily rendering as expected. The result was more disturbing than V's black & white Rennaisance etchings & less comical! How can you laugh at a full colour flayed man? Interestingly; the fragmented shapes which cut through him put me in mind of Duchamp's 'Nude Descending a Staircase' 'though the aspect of movement that they lend would probably be the most significant similarity other than the superficial effect.

Now, a decade later, one can go to see actual human cadavers preserved in plastic and posed in ridiculous situations, or live autopsies on televsion. So this mightn't be so disturbing anymore.