Still Waters Run Deep

I love when a work of art invites closer inspection of its working components. Here are some of my favorite examples of art that is more than what it seems:

Posterity- The Holy Place Damien Hirst

Hirst used butterfly wings and high-gloss house paint to create the above reflection on life and death.

Real Life is Rubbish Tim Noble and Sue Webster

Nobel and Webster piled and lit ordinary objects to reveal these shadow silhouettes projected from the original "rubbish" stacks.

Fanny/Fingerpainting 1985 Chuck Close

Chuck Close used his inked finger prints to create this enormous piece. I remember being fascinated by it as a little girl visiting the National Gallery. My admiration for Close only increased after visiting his exhibit at the Corcoran this fall. His quote at that show sums up his process for me:  

"As a kid I loved magic, but I used to break the cardinal rule of the magician. After I did the magic trick, I would go back and show everyone how I did (it)...It's supposed to ruin the experience but I found it didn't. You could show them how you did it and they would still be amazed."

I think that these seemingly straight-forward works mirror the intricacy of the human person in a unique way through the surprising articulation of their material parts.