{photography} – Page 133

The art of Anthony Goicolea

Premature (2003).

It’s difficult to avoid the word “dreamlike” when looking at Anthony Goicolea‘s carefully-staged tableaux, all of which use the artist himself as their subject, redressed and multiplied by Photoshop into an army of clones. The artist-as-model isn’t a new thing—Cindy Sherman has been doing this for years—but the possibilities of digital manipulation still seem rather under-explored in the contemporary art world; whether that’s down to a lack of the necessary aptitude on the part of artists or simply avoidance of a medium more commonly associated with advertising and illustration is hard to say.

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Psychedelic Life

left: “Hippies in a psychedelic coffee shop“, San Francisco, 1967; right: “Pair of long-haired Londoners in a psychedelic corner of the Beatles’ Apple boutique“, London, 1968.

A few of the photos which turn up when searching for pictures of the psychedelic era at Google’s LIFE archives.

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Naked furniture

Taking a break from the psychedelic overload today with a return to (what else?) black and white photographs of naked men. The subjects this time are from Mobilario Humano, fanciful suggestions for furniture designs by David Blázquez which use the photographer himself as the subject, collaged into a series of pliable clones. Allen Jones produced similar work with female figures in the 1960s—and Stanley Kubrick borrowed Jones’ idea for A Clockwork Orange—but this is the first time I’ve seen male figures used this way.

Thanks to Carmine for the tip!

Arthur Tress’s Hermaphrodite

Hermaphrodite behind Venus and Mercury (1973).

We had Austin Spare and absinthe yesterday. Looking at some of Arthur Tress‘s photographs today I was reminded me of one of Spare’s hermaphrodite studies (below). The photo is from a series, Theater of the Mind, which Tress created during the 1970s.

• Arthur Tress at GLBTQ

Gynander: Mutation by Besz-Mass (1955).

Previously on { feuilleton }
• Czanara’s Hermaphrodite Angel

Torero

You don’t have to agree with bullfighting to appreciate Torero, Ruven Afanador‘s photo series which brings to the surface the usually latent but always present homoerotics of the sport. These were part of a book collection in 2001 which seems now to be out of print.

With Torero, Ruven Afanador lays open a world of poignant beauty and sensuality – not the atmosphere of the bullfight, but the intimate world of proud young matadors in all their manly valor, and youthful dreams intact. This exquisitely produced volume of Afanador’s black-and-white portraits, taken over a period of two years comprise the most substantial collection of torero images ever published. In Mexico, Peru, Spain and his native Columbia, Afanador opens the door to the famously closed society of bullfighters, offering his elegant, private view of the boys and young men raised in a centuries-old Latin tradition, capturing their balletic beauty, and their distinctly, undeniably erotic aura. Through these iconic portraits, Afanador also gorgeously documents the sumptuous and richly-crafted couture-like costumes and the timeless symbols of the torero culture.