ABOUT THE PAINTING & THE PEOPLE OF INSTAGRAM PROJECT STATEMENT
‘The People of Instagram Project’ seeks to materialize this reality and the everyday practice of self-portraits and selfies on instagram. Through oil painting, I provide them the material existence of an object while emphasizing the contemporary frames they fit in : “likes”, “comments” and “shares”. In the tangible object of a painting, I explore the permanence of social media visuals, despite their immediacy and digital nature.
Reference subjects are selected from public instagram newsfeeds, browsing the hashtag “selfie”. Their portrait is painted in oil allaprima technique (wet on wet), on a square cotton canvas. The instagram header and footer are added on the top and bottom of the canvas including the button icons printed with a laser cut stamp. Once the painting is finalized, it is posted on instagram and the reference model’s instagram account is tagged, to close the loop. With this process, I hope to showcase the paradox of social media, offering high control over self-representation and at the paradoxically, no control in how such images can be reused by somebody else, like me.
In this series of portraits painted from instagram pictures, I compose with high exposure and saturation, distorted colors from filters and close up, high angle poses. This results in unusual compositions and color harmonies, comical effects and sometimes a more serious touch. Following Richard Prince’s intuition, I take a playful approach to self-presentation on social media rather than moralizing. I believe transposing Social Media Culture to Fine Arts enables us to shift perspectives and reflect on our reflection with fresh eyes.
DETAILS
TITLE: @javierpeca
ARTIST: Carole Nataf (myself)
SIZE: 12"x12"
SHIPPING: Ships worldwide painting on its canvas
SHIPPING TIME: 3-5 business days.
INSURANCE: Insured shipping
TYPE: Original Oil Painting by Carole Nataf
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ABOUT ME:
Carole Nataf was born in Paris in 1989. She grew up in the heart of the Latin Quarter in Paris, influenced by the intellectual and academic scene of the area. From her mother, she inherited an early predilection for Arts and the inspirational charisma of family artists. In college, she studied Literature and Philosophy before attending graduate studies in business. After studying art privately in Paris, NYC, San Francisco and Boston, she grew a passion for Plein Air painting and Allaprima painting techniques. She developed a special interest in texture contrast where soft meets harsh and delicate meets blunt. Influenced by artists such as Edward Hopper and Edouard Manet, she is admirative of their unmatched ability to simplify shapes, and juxtapose contrasting values without blending. Currently she lives and works in Boston and Cambridge, MA. She won the First prize at Revere Beach Art Festival in 2016…