Last journey

Matthew Day Jackson – Me, dead at …

17.11.2020
Matthew Day Jackson, Me, dead at 37, 2011, digital cprint, 123,5 x 123,5 x 4,4 cm, Courtesy of the artist & Hauser &Wirth, © Matthew Day Jackson, photo: Peter Mallet

Burning on the stake, wrapped up, high in the treetops or fed to the birds: Like a mantra, Matthew Day Jackson stages his death year after year, always according to a different funeral rite. The reason is his diagnosis with multiple sclerosis, which made the artist contemplate his mortality since 2006. This drastic finding instigates Day Jackson’s exceptional occupation with the disintegration of his body. 

Me, dead at … is a macabre but also always a humorous and ironic way of dealing with one’s own death. The utopian and gloomy view of the world adds a very personal touch to this series, which makes us aware of the uncertainty of the future.

PCH