Masquerading Brides and Grooms : Analyses of three art portraits in the medium of photography

• The topic of my paper is the study of three imaginary portraits of bridal couples in the medium of photography. The works are part of my ongoing ph.d project on the topic of Bridal couples. The aim of my paper is to investigate how the three fake portraits correspond to real studio bridal portraits. The paper further explores how the use of masks, make-up, costume, body language, mimics and background differ in the two settings, i. e. the art world and the photo studio.The paper makes use of Judith Butler’s theoretical ideas as presented in Gender Trouble when discussing questions of masquearade, identity and gender. Identity is in addition an intriguing topic since identity in China historically has been connected to the group rather than to the individual; thus the new art since the 1990s tend to focus on the individual rather than the group.How is the question of identity and individuality visualised in the art portraits in focus here in comparison to the popular studio portraits? The paper seeks to put the finger on conventionality as well as issues of subversion. The works are additionally put into the context of the Chinese socio-economic changes especially since the 1990s.

Ämnesord

HUMANIORA  -- Språk och litteratur (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Languages and Literature (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

contemporary Chinese art

conceptual photography

bridal couples

Asiens språk och kulturer

Asian Languages and Cultures

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

kon (ämneskategori)