Emperor’s Clothes

The artwork in question is an empty closet, which serves as a potent symbol of the old adage, "the emperor has no clothes." While the piece is deceptively simple, it draws on a number of historical art and cultural references to convey its message.

One possible point of reference is the story of the Emperor's New Clothes, a Danish folktale popularized by Hans Christian Andersen in the 19th century. In the story, a vain emperor is convinced by two swindlers to wear a suit of "invisible" clothes, which they claim can only be seen by those who are intelligent and worthy. The emperor, eager to prove his worthiness, parades through town in his new suit, only to be exposed as a fraud by a child who points out that he is, in fact, naked.

The empty closet in this artwork serves as a metaphor for the emperor's empty, illusory wardrobe and invites us to consider the ways in which we are often complicit in upholding false narratives and power structures. The piece also draws on the minimalist tradition in art, which seeks to strip away unnecessary ornamentation and reveal the essential nature of objects.

Overall, this artwork encourages us to question the stories we are told and to be wary of those who claim to have all the answers. By exposing the emptiness of the closet, the artist invites us to consider the ways in which we might be complicit in perpetuating illusions and to embrace a more critical and skeptical approach to the world around us.

Winifred Kingsley Whitworth, Collector