Derek Jarman

Richard Hamilton British

Not on view

In late 1993, after a luncheon for the visionary artist and filmmaker Derek Jarman (1942–1994) at the Tate Gallery, Hamilton asked the honoree to photograph him for his fourth volume of Polaroid Portraits. As the filmmaker was suffering from severe eye problems resulting from AIDS, Hamilton first photographed Jarman to set the camera’s focus. Jarman died only weeks later, and Hamilton revisited the test Polaroid for this print, placing Jarman’s blurred head against the backdrop of his last painting, Ataxia—AIDS Is Fun (1993; Tate, London). As a tribute, all editions of this print were sold to benefit the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

Derek Jarman, Richard Hamilton (British, London 1922–2011 Oxfordshire), Pigment transfer print

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