June 1, 2009: Skin Art

[xoxoxoBruce]

Andrew Krasnow makes skin art.
No, not tattoos, not body painting, art made of human skin.

Using skins from white men who donated their bodies to medical science, he has created freak versions
of mundane items including flags, boots and maps of America – in effect using skin like leather.
His work, he says, is a commentary on human cruelty and America's ethics and morality.

Not surprisingly, the work attracts controversy.
The only time it has been shown before in Britain, late last year, it was by appointment only.
Now the gallery has been licensed by the UK's Human Tissue Authority to display a complete exhibition.

He even created a new piece for this UK show... a defaced $10 bill.

Gallery owner Robert Devcic said Krasnow uses only white skin because much of the suffering in the Americas
has been caused by white people. "He uses skin to make the point that suffering is universal," he said.
"It is tanned using the same process that you'd use for an animal skin."

Martin Kemp, emeritus professor of art history at Oxford University, said Krasnow was not trying to be sensationalist.
"He has not overtly pushed the sense of spectacle or sensation, unlike, say, Damien Hirst," he said.
"He is working with deep and disturbing resonances. As an artist, he is pretty much out there on his own."

Yeah, I think he's deeply disturbed.

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