‘It is my most personal project to date’, says Jackie Sleper about Black Jack. ‘For me, life is an exciting and challenging game. As well as my real name, I sometimes used to be called Jack, a reference to the gambling game blackjack, also known as twenty-one. It’s a game in which you’re always scanning, usually acting intuitively. Should I play or not, choose for sensible, or risk it and succumb to the temptation of the game. Never before have I made myself as vulnerable as in this project, both externally and internally. It can all be seen in my 21 work. I was motivated by my new phase of life, over 50. It makes me think of my mother who already suffered from dementia at that age. The game can begin.’
Black Jack is a search for the darker sides of life, from a female perspective. What is it like to get old? What do Botox and fillers do to you? Why do we mutilate ourselves? Complicated issues that led Sleper to self-reflection.
The first edition of Black Jack is an exclusive, hand-bound, large (62 x 44 cm) book in a quantity of 50, with thirty analogue photos, three drawings, a collage, and delivered with a table designed by Roderick Vos. It was presented in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam in 2014. The demand for a version for a wider audience was significant. In April this demand will be met.
