A Hunger Artist

This disturbing image is inspired by Franz Kafka’s dark story A Hunger Artist, which follows a performer, a kind of circus freak show, whose act, or art, is starving himself. He travels from town to town, fasting in a cage for 40 days. There is a routine to his performances. Townspeople watch him closely as the fast progresses to starvation. At the end, a crowd gathers to see him emerge from his cage on the brink of death. An impresario directs his ceremonious unveiling, along with the orchestra, the crowd, and the presentation of his first meal. The surreal story is brought vividly to life in Rowan Pope’s almost photographic rendering. It is easy to forget you are looking at a pencil drawing, or an imagined world. The artist uses the narrative to examine a range of human emotion and presents a chilling view of humanity. The sneers, the elation, the voyeurism, the schadenfreude, as well as the fear and suffering place the viewer on edge.