Emilio Lopez-Menchero

Emilio López-Menchero’s ‘Trying to be’ series is based primarily on performance: that of the artist himself, who truly steps into the shoes of other characters. He then strikes a pose in the studio and captures the transformation through photography. His process is documented, his immersion complete. Make-up, costumes and props are all part of the act. For this self-portrait, the choice of James Ensor is no coincidence – the Ostend painter being himself no stranger to the genre. Ensor, a master of satire and caricature who was frequently the target of criticism, went so far as to depict himself as Christ or even as an ‘art-Ensor’ (a portmanteau of ‘art’ and ‘Ensor’) being fought over by skeletons. One of his most famous self-portraits, however, is the one with the flowered hat (1883–88), in which Ensor himself poses as Peter Paul Rubens. López-Menchero dons his own flowered bowler hat to pose for the camera, and a few months later even went so far as to visit the Rubens Room at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium to stage a performance there. A cascade of role-playing!

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