In a well-known tale by Oscar Wilde, a playboy and aesthete,
Dorian Gray, stays forever young and handsome. Meanwhile,
a portrait of Gray, hidden from public view, changes over time,
depicting the slow corruption of the dandy’s soul.
Wilde’s story works by reversing a basic assumption of
the spiritual life, that while the body is subject to decay,
the spirit should remain pure and unchanging, outside
the ravages of time.
The same stakes may be raised by the self-portrait
photographs Roman Opalka took throughout his great
project, as accompaniments to the ‘detail’ paintings.
While the artist is seen to age, the work progresses patiently,
apart from personal vicissitude, in an uncorrupted realm
of numbers.
photographs Roman Opalka took throughout his great
project, as accompaniments to the ‘detail’ paintings.
While the artist is seen to age, the work progresses patiently,
apart from personal vicissitude, in an uncorrupted realm
of numbers.
We are given no indication, in either the paintings or
the photographs, of the artist’s state of mind or spirit.
But this silence resounds ! It is towards, but also against,
mortality that the artist progresses. In carrying out his
self-appointed task, he becomes Roman Opalka,
the photographs, of the artist’s state of mind or spirit.
But this silence resounds ! It is towards, but also against,
mortality that the artist progresses. In carrying out his
self-appointed task, he becomes Roman Opalka,
the artist we recognise as the author of 1-∞,
the keeper of his promise, one indifferent to events.
the keeper of his promise, one indifferent to events.
The photographs recognise change but are a record
of constancy.
of constancy.