Thursday, August 13, 2009

ARTmostfierce's Photolucida Critical Mass 2009 picks

Photos by Phillip Toledano for Photolucida's Critical Mass 2009





Artist Statement

A NEW KIND OF BEAUTY This is a series of portraits of people who've re-created themselves through plastic surgery. I’m interested in what we define as beauty, when we choose to create it ourselves. Beauty has always been a currency, and now that we finally have the technological means to mint our own, what choices do we make? Is beauty informed by contemporary culture? By history? Or is it defined by the surgeon's hand? Can we identify physical trends that vary from decade to decade, or is beauty timeless? When we re-make ourselves, are we revealing our true character, or are we stripping away our very identity? Alternatively, are we creating a new kind of beauty? An amalgam of surgery, art, and pop culture? And if so, are the results the vanguard of human-induced evolution? This project is intended to ask, but not answer, questions.

A definite YES for the portraits and thematic exploration and a NO for me to plastic surgery!

Phillip Toledano
New York, NY
United States
philtoledano@yahoo.com

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