Alexander de Cadenet

Alexander de Cadenet (born 24 May 1974) is a British artist working in various media: predominantly painting, photography and sculpture. He is most known for his photographic 'skull portraits' and also his meteorite and ‘Life Burger’ sculptures. Set within the tradition of Vanitas, these works are designed as aids to spiritual and philosophical contemplation. He has referred to his art work as “a way to give experience meaning in a tangible form; it is an exploration into the mysteries and sacredness of life and its presentation through art”.[1]

Turquoise Interconnections, 1998
Alexander de Cadenet
Born (1974-05-24) 24 May 1974
Chelsea, London, England
NationalityBritish
EducationThe Courtauld Institute of Art
Known forPhotography, Painting, Sculpture, Poetry
MovementContemporary art
Websitehttps://www.alexanderdecadenet.com/
Alexander de Cadenet and Eckhart Tolle 2016

Life

De Cadenet was born and brought up in Chelsea, London and continues to live and work both in the UK and in Los Angeles, USA. He was educated at Ashfold Prep School and Harrow School, where he won the Lincoln-Seligmann Art Prize in 1992. In 1995, he curated Liberty a show of art by prisoners and special hospital patients, selected from the Koestler Awards Scheme, with the support of Chief Inspectorate of Prisons, Sir Stephen Tumim.[2] In 1996 he graduated with a B.A. from the Courtauld Institute of Art. Between 1997 – 2000, De Cadenet was the Arts Editor for Sleazenation magazine, a fashion and lifestyle magazine, featuring interviews with YBA artists including; Marc Quinn, Gavin Turk, Gilbert & George and Steven Willats.

Since 2016, de Cadenet has been the contributing Arts Editor of Watkins Mind Body Spirit Magazine. His interviews include Eckhart Tolle, about the relationship of art and enlightenment, David Lynch, on transcendental meditation, Alex Grey & Alison Grey, on visionary art.

Career

Skull portraits

De Cadenet launched his ‘skull portrait’ concept at The Mark, a warehouse space gallery the artist opened at 259 Kings Road London in 1996. It featured an x-ray of his own skull hanging from the ceiling. Between 1996 and 2016, de Cadenet presented a successive series of photographic 'skull portraits', based on X-rays of his subjects' skulls.

In 1998, at aged 23, he presented Skullduggery, featuring skull portraits of fashion models on the exterior of the Victoria & Albert Museum.

In 1999 he presented the complete Celebrity Series at an isolated location outside the Masai Mara in Kenya with the assistance of Cottars Safari. The show was attended by thousands of Masai tribe and some art collectors who flew to Kenya for the opening night.

In 2003, at the age of 28, he was the youngest artist to present a solo show (British Spies) in both the university and museum buildings of the Courtauld Institute of Art in Sommerset house on the Strand, London.

Installation view of Celebrity Skull Portraits at 30 Underwood Street Gallery, Shoreditch, London March 2000.

The ongoing series of works explores the themes of human achievement and the sacredness of art in particular within the tradition of Vanitas.The ten feet high cibachrome photographic Celebrity Series was first presented in the UK in 2000 at 30 Underwood Street Gallery in Shoreditch, London.[3]

The artist has been sourcing the skull x-rays of significant subjects from history who are no longer living for incorporation into skull portraits.[4] As of 2015, he has made portraits of Pharaoh Tutankhamun, Adolf Hitler, Albert Einstein and Marilyn Monroe. In 2016, the artist presented a skull portrait of Richard III in conjunction with Leicester University.[5][6]

Meteorite castings
Meteorite Egg, 2017

Between 2008 and 2017 de Cadenet made a small series of castings in certified extra-terrestrial meteorite metal he purchased in Tucson, Arizona. The meteorite works include works that have overt religious symbolism including, The Origin, Hunger and Creation a series of different apples with one, two and three bites taken from them.

A meteorite apple was sold at Philips Auctioneers in 2016 setting a record price for the artist's sculptures at auction.[7] In 2017, he produced Meteorite Egg which is considered the largest casting made of meteorite metal ever made.

Life Burgers

In 2016, the artist launched his Life Burger sculptures in California which continued his preoccupation with human ambition, material success and mortality. The works received wide critical acclaim.[8] In 2018, the Sunday Times reported the sale of the unique, 7 inch high, solid silver Trump Burger for £30,000 to a UK collector.[9]

Awakened Artists

Following his meeting with spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle in 2016, the artist founded the Awakened Artists group of artists which is an international community of artists whose work explores themes around evolving consciousness.[10] In 2017 Awakened Artists co-produced Art Awakens Humanity, a conference at St Stephen Walbrook in the City of London, exploring the relationship between art and spirituality.

Editorial / Curatorial Projects / Poetry

He has had two books of poetry published, The Muse in 1999 and Afterbirth in 2015.[11] Both publications explore his experience of the darker side of the female psyche.

In 2016, Unicorn Publishing published Alexander de Cadenet a retrospective of the artists work by art-historian Edward Lucie-Smith.[12]

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-12-09. Retrieved 2014-12-09.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "The Koestler Trust website". Archived from the original on 2010-05-03. Retrieved 2010-03-21.
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-12-09. Retrieved 2014-12-09.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. "Alexander de Cadenet. Sacred Portraits". Wall Street International. 2015-06-22. Retrieved 2018-11-05.
  5. "Science News: Striking skull portraits of King Richard III". Science Daily.
  6. "Alexander de Cadenet | Retrospective Book Launch x King Richard III Skull Portrait". Artsy.
  7. "PHILLIPS: Alexander de Cadenet". Phillips. Retrieved 2018-10-26.
  8. "Alexander de Cadenet: Money in the Eyes at Fab Gallery". Whitehot Magazine of Contemporary Art. Retrieved 2018-10-26.
  9. Parkhouse, Sam (2018-11-18). "Sculptor Alexander de Cadenet serves up Donald Trump on burger bun". The Sunday Times. ISSN 0956-1382. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
  10. "Awakened Artists". Awakened Artists. Retrieved 2018-10-26.
  11. "PalmArtPress". PalmArtPress.
  12. "Unicorn Publishing". Unicorn Publishing.
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