"SeXrays" by Wim Delvoye (born 1965)

Lot 104 - "SeXrays" by Wim Delvoye (born 1965)
Belgian neo-conceptual artist
Published to accompany an exhibition of the same name, this book presents twenty-five radiographic images of sexual acts on acetate sheets of aluminum Cibachromes, held together by a spiral binding under a cardboard cover. With the help of a radiologist, the artist invited several friends to paint themselves with small amounts of barium and perform explicit sexual acts in medical x-ray clinics.
Limited edition of 220 copies
Year of realization: 2002
Dimensions: H: 31; L: 23 cm
Wim Delvoye (born 1965 in Wervik, West Flanders) is a Belgian neo-conceptual artist known for his inventive and often shocking projects.
Much of his work focuses on the body. As critic Robert Enright wrote in the art magazine Border Crossings, "Delvoye engages in a way of making art that reorients our understanding of how beauty can be created."
Wim Delvoye has an eclectic body of work, exhibiting his interest in a range of themes, from bodily function and scatology to the function of art in today's market economy, and many subjects in between. He lives and works in Brighton, UK.
Delvoye grew up in Wervik, a small town in West Flanders, Belgium. He had no religious upbringing but was influenced by the Roman Catholic architecture that surrounded him. In a conversation with Michael Amy of The New York Times, Delvoye said, "I have vivid memories of crowds walking behind a single statue as well as people kneeling before painted and carved altarpieces.... Although I was barely aware of the ideas behind these types of images, I soon realized that the paintings and sculptures were of great importance."