John Coplans, who began his artistic career as a painter and was active as a critic (he founded the internationally renowned periodical ARTFORUM), explored in his later life photographic expression, using his own body as his subject matter. In his works such as Self-Portrait (back and hand), body parts such as fingers, feet are divorced from the whole and become the essential minimal form of the human body. Although Coplans considers these photographs of his own body self-portraits, they bear more universal significance. The wrinkling, aging body is in no way beautified; everything is exposed, and this allows for a humanity that is ubiquitous in our daily lives but rarely confronted. (AK)

(Born in London, England, 1920, and died in New York City, U.S.A. 2003)

Self-Portrait (back and hands)

1984
gelatin silver print mounted on board
edition 2/6
132.08 x 109.22 cm
Collection Albright-Knox Art Gallery
George B. and Jenny R. Mathews Fund, 1999
©The John Coplans Trust