CRISTINA TOLEDO @ Camara Oscura Galeria de Arte

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CRISTINA TOLEDO @ Camara Oscura Galeria de Arte

February 28th, 2023 by fstop

CRISTINA TOLEDO: Masquerade
25 March – 20 May 2023

Opening: Saturday 25th from 12 to 2.30 pm

“As usual in my work, each painting in this project is born from a found photograph. On this occasion, I started by selecting a few among the many that I keep in folders in my computer because they aroused my interest. By selecting and discarding, the common theme of the mask and the disguise, of the consciously performed personality, began to take shape. The idea of “Femininity as a mask”, which Joan Riviere formulated in 1929 in an article of the same name, appeared to me as a concept to be explored. After all, femininity and masculinity are also masks that we adopt to present ourselves to others.

I continued with my search until I decided on the final selection of photographs that have served as a starting point for this series of works. I did not want to remain in the identification of the mask with concealment and deceit. I was interested above all in looking for images that revealed its subversive role, its ability to create spaces for freedom and the affirmation of a freely chosen self. A way of revealing identities precisely from that masking.

Thus, we witness the representation of femininity as immobility and silence, but also the use of stereotypes of the feminine as liberation and play with one’s own identity. Also, the representation of masculinity appears as something changing that can fluctuate between the adaptation to the norm or the absolute liberation of it.”

Camara Oscura Galeria de Arte
c/ Alameda, 16, 1º B
28014 Madrid

Location: Madrid, Spain Type: Exhibition

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