Brazil/Spain, born in 1979

Begun in 2012, the series Humanae by Angélica Dass consists in portraits presented without distinction of age, religion, nationality, gender, or social class of the hundreds of people who took part in her vast project. The artist’s portraits take their cue from the conventional standards of anthropological or official photography (frontally posed and lit head and shoulders shots).

Behind the photographs, Dass adds a monochrome backdrop in a shade selected from the PANTONE® range so as to match the participant’s skin colour. By way of such systematic classification, the Humanae series questions the concept of difference and race, without asserting a definitive point of view.

Although the background tone chosen brings out the sitter’s ethnic identity, the manner in which the prints are arranged is based on no hierarchical or chromatic categories. Thus, if the alphanumeric codes of the industrial colour system allow each sitter to be identified and distinguished precisely, together the figures form part of a collective composition arrived at through the juxtaposition of individual types. Dass’s simple yet powerful project lays the foundations for a discussion of ethnic equality that leaves interpretation up to the viewer.


Schools
EFTI – Escuela de Fotografía y Centro de Imagen, Madrid, Espagne, 2011 – 2012
URFJ – Université fédérale de Rio de Janeiro, Brésil, 2003 – 2006
SENAI-CETIQT – Centre de technologie de la chimie et de l’industrie textile, Rio de Janeiro, Brésil, 2000 – 2002

Websites
www.angelicadass.com
www.humanae.tumblr.com

Artwork
Angélica Dass, Humanae, since 2012
Wallpapers
25 x 25 cm each
© Angélica Dass