Premonition, 2016
ScreenprintEdition of 80
44 x 35 cm
17 3/8 x 13 7/8 inches
"What interested me here was the idea of the clown as a disguise, the nature of friendliness as something deceptive, and of dangerousness, which is connected to anonymity. The stereotype of the clown’s face is enhanced by the sunglasses."
Tuymans often works from pre-existing imagery such as Polaroid photographs, television footage and magazine cuttings. His paintings and drawings appear slightly out of focus with a deliberately washed-out palette giving them an eerie quality. Characteristic of this approach, the starting point for Premonition was an unsettling drawing of the same name on lined paper. This drawing also features on the cover of his book of drawings published in 1997.
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