Lot Essay
Jake and Dinos Chapman make a myriad of iconoclastic mixed-media works that weave together a vast range of associations using material from all areas of the cultural landscape including philosophical theory, art history and consumer culture. The present work is a collection of ideas drawn as they were realized into other fully developed works. In this drawing, the brothers boldly profess, "Enough ace ideas for the next million years for the universe." They engage with inflammatory subjects and use subversive strategies to produce works that defiantly refute straightforward interpretation. The black humor that pervades the Chapman brothers works is undercut by the craftsmanship and painstaking labor evident in their execution; they are expert draftsman, engravers, model-makers and wood carvers. Jake and Dinos Chapmans aim is to unearth the contradictions and hypocrisies present in contemporary culture, posing questions but providing no answers.