Identikit, 1987

An empty dark wood portrait frame featuring a white passepartout, with a jacket and a shirt mounted in the space usually reserved for the picture, presents an alleged self-portrait.
The two items of clothing – belonging to a man's ceremonial outfit – are two distinctive attributes of the author's ”identikit” in the guise of actor (master of ceremonies, artificer, announcer). Through this stand-in – a recurring motif in the output from the 1980s – the artist intends to recall his own role as a mere interpreter (bearer, mediator, presenter), who limits himself to announcing a representation or foreshadowing the possible manifestation of something.
The work was the first in a series of five variants, made between 1987 and 2003, which are distinguished by the different elements associated each time with the portrait frame (GPO-0589, GPO-0616, GPO-0622, GPO-0642, GPO-0883).