His interest in the spiritual and his work with fluids led to the provocative series of immersions of religious and cultural symbols. Between shaken and bewildered, alone before the image, the viewer's gaze searches for the remnants of humanity that Serrano seems to have found in the Klan figures dressed in robes, disguised with menacing hoods. The concealed behavior of these pathetic individuals is very different from the exultant attitude of the Nomads, his work with the homeless.
His memory of a burning church became a series about the power of symbols and habits. Taken in different parts of the world, the photographs of religious figures seem to have allowed the artist to remember in public, to exorcise the past and create a critical and autonomous spiritual relationship. Although a political reading is unavoidable in relation to his work, we must believe him; Serrano confirms that his search for humanity and beauty comes first."I’ve never called myself a photographer. I studied painting and sculpture and see myself as an artist with a camera. I learned everything I know about art from Marcel Duchamp who taught me that anything, including a photograph, could be a work of art." -Andres Serrano.
Klansman (Imperial Wizard), 1990. Photography
Andres Serrano
Klansman (Imperial Wizard), 1990
Cibachrome Print Front-Mounted to Plexiglas, wood frame
Dimensions:
Image size: 40 H x 32.5 W in.
Frame size: 45.2 H x 37.5 W x 0.75 D in.
Edition 5/10
Labels from Paula Cooper Gallery 534 W. 21 Street, New York, NY 10011. Titled, and numbered on the reverse.
Andres Serrano is perhaps best known for his unflinching color photographs of controversial subjects including dead bodies, feces, handguns, Ku Klux Klansmen, and Catholic figurines submerged in bodily fluids. Serrano’s painterly compositions and rich tonalities create strange juxtapositions with his confrontational subject matter. In his famous photograph Piss Christ (1987), for example, Serrano uses a glowing, color-saturated palette to depict his transgressive subject: a crucifix suspended in urine. The photograph became a major touchstone in the American culture wars and sparked debates about arts funding in the United States. The artist has exhibited in New York, London, Paris, Tokyo, Berlin, Beijing, and Brussels. His work has sold for six figures at auction and belongs in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Stedelijk Museum, among others.
