Похожий проект уже был в блоге — RESEMBLAGÈ.
Contemporary Mythologies
Like a suicide bomber, who gives up his identity in the name of an ideology, Edu Monteiro hides his face under masks obscuring his human condition as he transforms himself into a hybrid being. The difference, however, lies in the poetry achieved by the artist, brutal on one hand, full of humor on the other.
The textures that the photographer seeks in organic elements -plants, peppers and coals – draws his research near to what Archimboldo did in painting: portraits that confuse the senses when misrepresenting nature itself. On the other hand, the images he gets through the fusion of the human body and artificial bodies — cigarettes and stuffed animals — refer to a dark or decadent future, inhabited by mutant creatures.
One way or another, the political load is intrinsic to Monteiro’s work, whether in the organic mutations which raise ecological discussions, or in those photos where consumption overrides the individual, changing his features, as if he had his genetic load altered.
On the other hand, the preciousness with which the productions are illuminated reinforces the artist’s aesthetic discourse. The advertising is mixed up with art creating a conflict in the photographic image.
The hybrids built in this series of self-portraits are not only plural but also exclusionary, showing and hiding the complex facets that shape and characterize the human species so well.
Living sculptures, photographed busts chatting with the viewer settling his personality. As Medusa looking in the mirror, we are petrified when we recognize ourselves in the images of the photographer.
Bernardo José de Souza
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