Description

Naked was the first commercial show presenting new works by Rankin in over five years and the first show with Dutch gallery, Kunsthuis Amsterdam. The collection presented in Naked, takes a darker, more lavish and less guarded route than we’ve previously seen from Rankin’s nude work, exploring the darkness and eroticism of the nude, but always shot with Rankin’s signature sense of humour.  

I’m very excited by my recent work, it feels the purest it has been since the 90’s, albeit much darker. This aesthetic always excites me, so the shots have an elegance to them, but there has been no retouching or over-perfecting in post. They are a raw realistion of my fascination with the erotic and death. The two conceits seem to be more intertwined in my imagination as I get older. I think it has a lot to do with the control I have over my concupiscence. I think I finally have lust where I want it to be to create great work”. – Rankin, discussing his exhibition Naked in 2017.

Using the term naked, the exhibition played on the notion of public and private expressions. The nude being a well established artistic tradition, Rankin’s images explored the fun and the taboo of exposing private nudity and sexuality. His photographs strip away the traditional nude in the search for something more brazen and candid. 

The performative nature of the Naked images was mirrored in a two-day photographic event and exhibition preview ahead of the exhibition opening. Over the  days, Rankin photographed forty members of the public live at Kunsthuis Amsterdam and streamed the experience through Facebook Live. A unique opportunity for collectors to be photographed by Rankin and for the public to watch the photographer at work.

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