RUUD VAN EMPEL (B. 1958)

Part of a larger cycle of works, Dutch artist Ruud van Empel’s World #8 is a lush meditation on beauty and innocence. A black child, half hidden within a tropical wetland, stares steadfastly ahead. All around him palm fronds, pink flowers, and glistening lily pads open and curl expectantly. The vibrant vegetation evokes paintings by Henri Rousseau and Paul Gaugin whose landscapes were so verdant they seemed almost unbelievable. As van Empel explained, ‘Tropical nature has a bigger variety of plants and leaves than the northern European world has, so that gave me the chance to create settings that looked more like a painting. The challenge was to make them as beautiful as possible, and I enjoyed it very much’ (R. van Empel quoted in ‘Recreating Reality’, Professional Photography, May/June 2017, p. 44). Van Empel uses the chibachrome photographic process which gives his colours their exceptional brilliance, and to further this sense of magical realism, each composition combines hundreds of snapshots which together present a heightened world. Childhood and innocence are central themes for the artist, and by focussing on hopeful and positive representations, his works endeavour to challenge the stereotypical images of black children propagated by the Dutch media; other works from this series are held in the collection of the Rijks Museum, Amsterdam. Indeed, van Empel’s World #8 suggests a better, more peaceful vision of life, a true splendour in the grass.