Double Deathshead
About this artwork
The conjoined skulls of this print recall the Chapmans’ sculptures made from fused-together shop mannequins. The image also refers to the Jolly Roger pirate flag and the symbol of the ‘Death’s Head Unit’, a division of the National Socialist SS organisation. When this print is displayed, a pair of plastic eyes on springs – ‘Droopy Eyes’, are fixed to the glazed surface. Dinos Chapman explained, ‘The eyes deflate any sense of menace, the whole image deflates itself.’ This work is from a portfolio of prints by eleven different London-based artists, called ‘Screen’. The title is taken from the screenprint technique but also refers to the fact that most of the artists had worked with film or photography.
Updated before 2020
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artist:
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title:Double Deathshead
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date created:1997
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materials:Screenprint: 4 screens, plus varnish and phosphorescent ink
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measurements:71.30 x 86.40 cm; paper 73.40 x 88.30 cm (framed: 86.30 x 116.20 x 2.70 cm)
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object type:
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credit line:Purchased 1998
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accession number:GMA 4200 B
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gallery:
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subject:
Jake and Dinos Chapman
Jake and Dinos Chapman
The Chapman brothers began working together in 1992 and became infamous for their provocative, sexually explicit sculptures using child mannequins. Whilst they frequently challenge the boundaries of taste, their art is darkly comic and reveals the contradictions of contemporary culture. From making...