Paul Blanca - portrait

Beautiful C-print by Paul Blanca in mint condition.
Acquired from a private collection. Signed and titled in silverpoint. A3 in perfect condition.
You can view and evaluate the work beforehand. After purchase, it can be picked up at Gallery Rotor in Gorinchem or by registered mail. Pickup is more convenient, so we can have coffee together.
Anyone who appreciates architecture shouldn't miss a visit to our national monument. A building brimming with art and a truly immersive experience. The historic town of Gorcum, home to the largest intact fortress and the Gorcum Museum, with its strong reputation for contemporary art, is within walking distance.
Also check out our other Galerie Rotor items on Kunstveiling or call us for advice. Multiple items can often be shipped in a single shipment. Would you like to have your work framed? We at Galerie Rotor in Gorinchem can handle all kinds of framing for you.
After consultation, you can have your purchases stored in our heated storage facility and collect them at a later stage.


This item is subject to the margin scheme.

Paul Blanca, pseudonym of Paul Vlaswinkel, (Curaçao, November 11, 1958 – Amsterdam, October 15, 2021) was a Dutch photographer. In his younger years, he was described as a "volatile" person with a great deal of energy, yet also with a vulnerable sensitivity. Blanca made portraits in which he molested himself with razors, wire, arrows, nails, and needle and thread. One of his most famous photographs depicts a crying Mickey Mouse, carved into Blanca's back.
Life and work
In his younger years, Blanca practiced kickboxing at a high level. His first camera, he claims, was a Canon F1, a camera he'd acquired through a burglary. Once he started out as a young photographer, Blanca collaborated with Hans van Manen and, as a non-dancer, was given a leading role in Van Manen's Piano Variations IV. His developed motor skills and kickboxing skills were central to the choreography he created. As photographers, Blanca and Van Manen collaborated on a series of photographs, capturing themselves, each other, and others, with the theme: "Man as Object of Desire."
In the mid-1980s, Blanca befriended fellow artists Rob Scholte and Koos Dalstra. With Dalstra, he published a series of double portraits, "Timing," in 1986. Fifty portraits of people from the Amsterdam art world, featuring photographs by Blanca and poems by Dalstra. Blanca also met and befriended the American photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. In the field of photography, Mapplethorpe considered Blanca "his only competitor."
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Blanca spent about two years in Zaragoza documenting bullfighting there. This ultimately resulted in a series of screen prints entitled Sangre de Toro (Blood of the Bull). Instead of ink, he used actual bulls' blood for the prints. Around this time, Blanca also began writing columns, first for a year for Het Parool, and later for Nieuwe Revu. In this magazine, he chronicled not only his life as an artist but also his life as a drug addict and his experiences with the criminal underworld.
In the mid-1990s, Blanca was accused of the bombing of Rob Scholte and his then-wife, Micky Hoogendijk. Scholte himself made this accusation in an interview, an accusation that was never proven. The result of this affair was that Blanca lost his popularity as a photographer and became increasingly isolated within the art world.
In 2021, the film "Paul Blanca, This Film Will Save Your Life," directed by Ramón Gieling, was released. This documentary portrays Blanca's immense talent, his life, work, and downfall. Upon its release, the film was announced with an opening line that it looked like he "didn't have much longer to live."
Blanca passed away on October 15, 2021, at the age of 62. His work has received considerable attention thanks to the beautiful book that was recently published.