Bodies. 6 Women. 1 Man.

Photographs by Nadav Kander.

Hatje Cantz, 2012. 104 pp., 300 color illustrations, 15x11".

Nude bodies painted white, faces turned away from the viewer: this is how Nadav Kander (*1961 in Israel) photographed the sitters in his latest series. Accessories are minimal, as is the aesthetic, yet at the same time the arrangement makes the mostly voluptuous bodies seem baroque. One is reminded of the portraits of Elizabeth I with their white lead “masks.” In Kander’s precisely lit images, with their exquisite colors, white mice run across white skin, a small bird seems tiny perched next to an odalisque. Red hair plays a role, flowing down over doll-like bodies as if it had a life of its own. Despite the abundance of flesh on display, the images do not have a superficial sense of the erotic. The lack of eye contact and the white makeup function as barriers, and the massiveness of the limbs recalls the works of Hans Bellmer or Lucian Freud. Like them, Kander offers simulacra of sensuality and questions our images of the human body as well as the concept of beauty itself.

Read Christopher J. Johnson's review of Bodies. 6 Women. 1 Man. on photo-eye Blog.

About the Limited Edition

The two works selected for our Collector’s Edition—male and female nudes—feature the bodies huddled in reclining poses. Here, too, the faces are hidden from the viewer, and this withdrawal of the self awakens curiosity in the viewer.

Elizabeth with Hands on Head and Shoulders, 2010
Michael Curled with White Mouse, 2010
2 digital prints, with special, handbound edition of book,
in Japanese binding, with hand-painted cover
Sheet size: 24x 30 cm, limited edition of 100 + 10 a. p.,
signed and numbered

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DS048-LTD Limited Edition is no longer available.

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