Interlocking Fingers, No. 17
© The John Coplans Trust
Monumental in scale and rich in detail, the content of Coplans's photographs of his body–almost sculptural in quality–are mediations on the taboo subject of aging. He began photographing himself at age 60 and continued until his death. By focusing on a single part of the body without directly identifying the work as a self-portrait, the form becomes anonymous, an object through which to consider aesthetic qualities as well as one's own relationship to mortality. In this photograph taken toward the end of his life, the lacework of wrinkles and deep shadows on the artist's interwoven hands document 80 years of use as a painter, photographer, museum director, and human.
Exhibition Title: Asheville Art Museum: An Introduction to the Collection
Label Date: 2021
Type: Object Entry
Written by: Hilary Schroeder
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