Author: Markus Schinwald
10 Pigmentprint.
100 x 70 cm each.
Markus Schinwald's work often uses compositions that seem like prostheses and do not hide any human defects, on the contrary, they substitute their function, producing the supposed imperfection.
These concepts come directly from the Freudian notion of the "Prosthetic God".
In these 10 engravings, he aggressively alters Biedermeier engravings, representing portraits of men to which he adds prostheses or modifies their gestures, directly matching the human physiognomy.
In the dawn of photography, the people portrayed endured long photography sessions where they had to remain still, using a variety of supports for assistance.
This is what Schinwald refers to in his engravings when he decorates the bodies with high stiff necks that cover the face or the sleeves of a habit stitched together, as if it were a straitjacket, or when he ties a jacket with ropes that help to freeze an extended arm or a chain hooked to a mouth that fixes a smile.
The artist creates these photographs respecting the original models to such an extent that his intervention, at first sight, is not noticed.