Dimensions: image: 228 x 78 mm
Copyright: © Jake and Dinos Chapman | CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Photo: Tate
Curator: Jake Chapman's etching, "Exquisite Corpse," part of the Tate collection, immediately strikes me as something out of a nightmare. Editor: The dense crosshatching definitely contributes to that feeling, it's almost suffocating. What sort of cultural anxieties do you think it's channeling? Curator: The title itself references a Surrealist game, reflecting the disjointed and often grotesque imagery we see across his work, highlighting the anxieties of the late 20th century. These are symbols of cultural decay. Editor: I see multiple eyes, exposed organs, and these crude, almost tribal, forms – are these meant to disturb, to provoke a deeper, perhaps unconscious, recognition? Curator: Chapman has always been interested in pushing boundaries and challenging societal norms, often exploring themes of violence, religion, and consumerism. Editor: The image certainly lingers, a potent reminder of the darker undercurrents of culture. Curator: Indeed, and how artists can hold a mirror to those anxieties.
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This series of prints is based on a game called Exquisite Corpse, a version of Consequences which was developed by the Surrealists. The players take turns to draw part of a body onto a piece of paper, which has been folded horizontally to hide what the other players have drawn. The result is a body of composite parts. These etchings feature comic-horror imagery typical of the Chapmans’ work: skulls, eyeballs on stalks, grotesque animal heads, liquids dripping and spurting from wounds, orifices, nipples and heads, writhing intestines, and claw-like hands and feet. Gallery label, September 2004
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