Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/603732
191 Dutch artist Ruud Van Empel was born in Breda in 1958. After graduating in Graphic Design from the Academie St. Joost, van Empel worked briefly as a designer and later as a creative designer specialising in theatre décor. In 1995 van Empel made the transition from stage to staged- photography when he presented his first photographic project entitled The Office, a series of portraits showing people in digitally constructed workplaces. The project was largely black and white due to the limitations of technology at the time, namely a computer which 'crashed every five minutes', which prevented van Empel from producing full-scale colour montages until the new millennium. 'When I made them I did not actually plan to start a career in art, I was just enjoying myself making things on my new computer.' Referencing 1930s cinema, van Empel produced mysterious and sometimes unnerving scenes, which combined the real and the unreal. This would become a consistent theme throughout his work. His subjects are constructed from a digital palette of digital eyes, ears, noses and more. As his skill and technology has developed, van Empel has become able to construct human beings with almost frightening accuracy. In 2009 van Empel presented three bodies of work as part of the touring Picturing Eden exhibition curated by Deborah Klochko of George Eastman House. These were Venus, Moon and the critically acclaimed World. These three series of digitally constructed portraits of children have become van Empel's most exhibited and recognized works. One element that has drawn particular attention is the frequent appearance of black children in his work. Although it is not intended as any particular statement, van Empel has commented on the portrayal of black children in Dutch media as often 'poor' or 'suffering'. 'I received some positive responses from black audiences, who said they liked the way my work portrays black children in a respectful and beautiful way rather than as a victim.' A recurring theme in van Empel's work is the innocence of children, portrayed particularly through the choice of clothing, which adorns his subjects. The artist has meticulously chosen clothing, which reflects the formal Sunday dress that he and his siblings would wear to church as children. The accuracy of this clothing is integral in his work and he will often digitally construct garments from memory through photographic materials and patterns that he 'stitches' together. Ruud van Empel Born 1958