Elena Dorfman
dal 16/1/2008 al 22/2/2008
Segnalato da
16/1/2008
Elena Dorfman
Camara oscura galeria de arte, Madrid
A solo exhibition of the American photographer. Documenting the extraordinary world of "cosplay" in which participants dress in costume as characters from video games, animated films, and Japanese graphic novels, "Fandomania" reveals each subject's experimentation with role-play.
A solo exhibition of the American photographer
(Boston, born 1965) Elena Dorfman’s series “Fandomania” opens at the camara
oscura art gallery.
Documenting the extraordinary world of “cosplay” in which participants dress in
costume as characters from video games, animated films, and Japanese graphic
novels, “Fandomania” reveals each subject’s experimentation with role-play. The
convention center provides a sanctuary for participants’ homemade constructions of
identity, in which the personality of the subject is united with elements of the anime
world. Employing aspects of the visually fantastic, Dorfman’s photographs conjure an
imagined reality occupied by cross-dressing samurai warriors, mad hatters, and
psychedelic princesses. Additionally, an animated film entitled “Costume Play”, with
music by J.J. Abrams, will be screened during the show.
Emerging in the wake of Dorfman’s last series, “Still Lovers” a project about
hyper realistic sex dolls and their owners, “Fandomania” presents an opportunity for the
artist to revisit themes of role-play and the increasingly blurred lines between fiction
and reality, taking a step further from documentary photography. Dorfman’s work
presents a modern mythology informed by a collective familiarity with Japanese print
media and culture.
In a recent interview with the Aperture Foundation, Dorfman describes the
“theater of cosplay” as possessing “no boundaries” a place both “unpredictable, and
open ended.” The absence of rules or societal limitations, grants each participant the
freedom to be auteur of their constructed reality. The convention center transforms into
a safe zone separate and apart from mundane reality. The sense of collective
acknowledgement is central to the cosplay experience. Creating a private theater within
the convention center, Dorfman’s temporary studio provided an additional landscape
for cosplayers to perform their dramatic acts of self-representation.
For further information, please contact Juan Curto on +34 914 291 734
Opening: Thursday, 17 at 8.00 pm
camara oscura galeria de arte
c/ Alameda, 16, 1º B ES 28014 Madrid, Spain