Ruud Van Empel's Children of Innocence

Netherlands based artist Ruud Van Empel's pieces appear to be stunning photographs of perfectly ethereal and rather sober children. Each image is in fact a collage, Ruud combines a number of photographs to create the final product. His own custom style of image creation sees Ruud photograph a number of subjects in his studio under the same lighting. He then pieces together various elements from the individual photographs creating these flawless images.

Drawing inspiration from his own childhood he has received many remarks on the confusing inclusion of black children in his work. Growing up in the Netherlands in the 1960s doesn't seem like it would've been the most diverse upbringing. The artist however challenges us as viewers, causing us to acknowledge our own potential bias, producing a range of questions around representation of black children and other ethnicity subjects in modern art and photography. He features different scenes with children dressed in vintage style clothing, reminiscent of a simpler and more innocent time.

Ruud van Empel’s work will be on display at Beetles+Huxley from February 21 to March 18 2017.

#art