Anthony Goicolea’s entire body of work can be described as a fictional autobiography. Similar to artist Gregory Crewdson, Goicolea creates elaborate mises en scènes, painstakingly produced for each work, resulting in moody, sinister stages where his characters interact and create undefined stories. His videos, as well as his photographs, always depict groups of boys engaging in games, or rather, in ambiguous activities: one boy pinning another to a bed and spitting in his face; boys wearing hoods and running scared in a forest; boys cleaning a pool full of floating bodies; a boy obsessively biting his nails; school boys mischievously posing as if in a class photograph; and uniformed boys eating gluttonously around a table. These are among the many examples of boyhood behavior captured by this artist since 1996 in photographs and videos, and most recently, also in installations and drawings.

Upon closer notice, the viewer realizes the boys depicted in these unusual actions are all the same, and in real life, the artist. Goicolea’s youthful looks have been described by many as “uncanny”. Although the artist was born in 1971, with makeup and costume he oftentimes passes for a teenager. This physical trait serves the artist as a tool in an exploration of boyhood themes and behavior. Goicolea draws less from his cultural heritage, than from gender identity and sexuality issues, especially the ambiguous period of a pre-pubescent and adolescent male and the complex rites of passage in the search for identity, self-esteem and a sense of self.

Inspiration: Kollio | Text: Cubiná | Video: Goicolea | Music: Sigur Rós

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 20th, 2007 at 19:39 and is filed under Art, Photo, Photoart, Video. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.