Book Review: Masculinities
Rotimi Fani-Kayode, Untitled, 1985.
Examining progressively fluid notions of masculinity over the past six decades, Masculinities: Liberation Through Photography, edited by Alona Pardo, Curator at Barbican Art Gallery, presents an eclectic array of work from some of the world's most celebrated photographers. This photographic expedition compiles and curates work from over fifty artists of different ethnicities, generations, and gender identities, exploring the complex evolution of masculinity and the expansive nature of the subject.
Jane Alison, Head of Visual Arts, Barbican, said: “Masculinities: Liberation through Photography continues our commitment to presenting leading twentieth century figures in the field of photography while also supporting younger contemporary artists working in the medium today. Given the inclusion of such a diverse array of incredible photography and film, we think that the exhibition will illuminate and enrich our understanding of what it is to be a man in today’s world.”
Hal Fischer, Street Fashion Jock from the series Gay Semiotics.
Masculinity is a socially constructed identity. Boys and men learn “appropriate” gender characteristics and roles in accordance with society’s expectations. From a young age, messages of what it means to be masculine are hurdled at young boys by the media, consumer culture, and their parents and peers. The gendering process is so ubiquitous as to be invisible to us and therefore seem biologically determined, rather than the complex of cultural narratives in which we are embedded.
Karlheinz Weinberger, Horseshoe Buckle, 1962.
Throughout this complex discourse and fierce debate surrounding gender identity, the media has blamed toxic masculinity for every atrocity – from rape and mass shootings – to climate change and Donald Trump’s presidency. Over the past couple decades, as our definitions have expanded and evolved, the media has served as a barometer for the gender politics of the time. With traditional masculinity ideology undergoing a global crisis, this project surveys the representation of masculinity in all its myriad forms, replete with contradiction and volatility.
Thomas Dworzak, Taliban portrait. Kandahar, Afghanistan. 2002.
Each of the six themed chapters in Masculinities: Liberation Through Photography feature daring and magnetic work by artists such as Richard Avedon, John Coplans, Robert Mapplethorpe, Herb Ritts, Collier Schorr, Larry Sultan, Wolfgang Tillmans, and David Wojnarowicz. These photographers are famously known for their fearless depictions of masculinity, challenging tropes and conventions. Others offering ethnically and culturally diverse perspectives, include Rotimi Fani-Kayode, Masahisa Fukase, Adi Nes, Hank Willis Thomas, and Akram Zaatari.
Catherine Opie, Rusty, 2008.
Masculinities: Liberation Through Photography traverses through themes of queer identity, the black body, power and patriarchy, female perceptions of men, hypermasculine stereotypes, fatherhood and family. The works in the book present masculinity as an unfixed performative identity that is experienced, performed, coded and socially constructed.
We must expand the notion of maleness and create a new definition that includes a full range of the human experience. Because a man can look like anything.
