PHOTOGRAPHER RESEARCH PROJECT

SURREAL PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY BY GIUSEPPE MASTROMATTEO

Giuseppe Mastromatteo is an Italian surreal photographer and creative director. He was born in Italy on August 6th, 1970 and is currently living and working in New York. Mastromatteos graduated from Accademia di Comunicazione di Milano (located in Milan, Italy) with a degree in art direction. He has worked with many established advertising agencies and collaborated with The Triennale Museum of Milan. 

His awards include: Young Lion 1999 & 2000; 2 Grand Prix ADCI; 11 Gold, 6 silver, 7 bronze ADCI; 7 Shortlist Cannes Lions; New York Film Festival; 3 Bronze Epica Awards.

His work has been displayed at many art fairs and galleries, all including:

2012

INDEPENSENSE 2nd, Emmanuel Fremin Gallery - Solo Exhibitions - New York
RED DOT MIAMI, Emmanuel Fremin Gallery - Miami
ART PALM BEACH, Emmanuel Fremin Gallery - West Palm Beach, Florida USA
SCOPE Art Fair, Emmanuel Fremin Gallery - New York
AFF Emmanuel Fremin Gallery - New York
ART HAMPTON Bridgehampton, Emmanuel Fremin Gallery - New York
MIA FAIR, Fabbrica Eos - Milan
ART PARIS Art Fair, Fabbrica Eos - Paris
INDEPENSENSE, Fabbrica Eos - Solo Exhibitions - Milan
INDEPENSENSE, Emmanuel Fremin Gallery - Solo Exhibitions - New York

2011

ART GREENWICH New York, Emmanuel Fremin Gallery - New York
RED DOT MIAMI, Emmanuel Fremin Gallery - Miami
CUTLOG, Fabbrica Eos - Paris
SEAFAIR NEW YORK, Emmanuel Fremin Gallery - New York
ART HAMPTONS Bridgehampton, Emmanuel Fremin Gallery - New York
AFF, Emmanuel Fremin Gallery - New York
INDEPENSENSE, Galerie 208 - Paris
“Il dubbio della bellezza - Fotografie dalla collezione Gibelli” Denis Curti, Palazzo Te Fruttiere - Mantua
Road to Contemporary Art, Fabbrica Eos - Rome
AAM, Fabbrica Eos - Milan
AFF, Fabbrica Eos - Milan
TEATRO SELVE, Group Exhibitions - Vigone (Turin)

2010

ARTVERONA, Fabbrica Eos - Verona
GOOD LUCK LUCK LOOK, San Salvatore Gallery - Solo Exhibitions - Modena
“TERZO RINASCIMENTO”, Acaos Galleria Civica di Arte Moderna - Aci Castello (CT)
HIDENTITIES, MC2 Gallery, Group Exhibitions - Milan
ANNI 00, Associazione Culturale Famiglia Margini - Milan
TERZO RINASCIMENTO, Galleria Nazionale delle Marche - Palazzo Ducale - Urbino
REMAKE, Contemporaneamente Gallery, Group Exhibitions - Parma
ROAD TO CONTEMPORARY ART, Group Exhibitions - Rome

2009

PARIS PHOTO, Forma Foto Museum and Contrasto - Paris
INDEPENSENSE, Lattuada Studio / II Diaframma - Milan
PHOTONOEMA, Fotografia del Pensiero - Milan
STEP, Fabbrica Eos - Milan
CONTEMPORARY LIFE, IF Art Gallery - Island of Elba
ARTVERONA, Fabbrica Eos - Verona
INDEPENSENSE, Contemporanea(mente - Parma
SWINGART, Le Rovedine and Fabbrica Eos - Milan
MIART, Fabbrica Eos - Milan
INDEPENSENSE, Fabbrica Eos - Solo Exhibitions - Milan

2008

MIAMI DESIGN DISTRICT, Group Exhibitions - Miami
VISIONNAIRE DESIGN GALLERY, Fabbrica Eos - Group Exhibitions - Milan
ARTVERONA, Fabbrica Eos - Verona
MIART, Fabbrica Eos - Milan

2007

ART IN COCKTAIL, Jamaica - Fabbrica Eos - Milan
MUSEO CASORIA, Permanent Collection - Naples
ARTVERONA, Fabbrica Eos - Verona
JAMAICA, Fabbrica Eos - Solo Exhibitions - Milan
MIART, Fabbrica Eos - Milan
“14 Metri Quadri”, Fabbrica Eos - Solo Exhibitions - Milan / Crema

2006

“14 Metri Quadri”, Fabbrica Eos - Solo Exhibitions - Milan

Mastromatteo has recently released a new series of photographs entitled "Indepensense."  He got his inspiration from Margritte and Man Ray's images.Through his work he is trying to achieve repulsion and a sensation of fascination at the same time. His photo's are very poetic and you can tell that every image has a story or point to it. In my opinion they come off as interesting but at the same time disturbing in the way he represents the surreal portraits. The backdrop is white and simple which lets us focus on the absurd characters. The characters all have a blank expression leaving us curious and uncomfortable. They have hands with mouths or eyes or ears placed on them; the faces are ripped in half still with no expression; the human body is distorted without involving blood and surgical tools. This talented photographer digitally manipulates his images using editing programs such as photoshop. 

I chose this photographer because it is very different from what I normally see and what kind of photography I normally take. It's interesting and as I was searching for photographers to research I've realized there are so many different kinds of photography that I never even knew of, inluding Mastromatteo's style. Here are some of his surreal portrait photos: 

I posted this image first because it is my favourite piece of his. It comes off as fashion photography to me with a bit of a twist. This is from Giuseppe Mastromatteo's 2009 series called "Indepensense."

I often wonder what the photographer was thinking while taking and editing their photos; in this one especially. This woman only has one head and her arms are combined together. You can tell that her image on our left is the correct one by the direction her head and palms are pointing. At first I thought Mastromatteo had taken this one image and flipped it to make the woman on the right but as you can see in the photo the image on our right has her breasts touching her thighs while the image on the left does not. I would love to watch Mastromatteo in the process of editing his photos! This is from Giuseppe Mastromatteo's 2012 series called "Indepensense." 

This image disturbs me because of its allusion. The woman's head is as if it is getting split in half. Her blank expression makes her look scared. It reminds me of a horror movie, the woman is getting punished for something she wasn't supposed to do. This is from Giuseppe Mastromatteo's 2009 series called "Indepensense."

"Untitled"

This reminds me of a love story except for the distracting fact that there is ears growing out of their hands. In this photo I can see how Mastromatteo is trying to oppose sensation of fascination in his photo's while also having a repulsive factor. This is from Giuseppe Mastromatteo's 2009 series called "Indepensense."

I posted these three separate photos taken by Mastromatteo together because once I saw them I instantly thought of "Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil." I could be wrong because it didn't show through any of the research I found that his work had anything to do with this myth but I believe it may. The three wise monkeys normally cover their ears, eyes, and mouth but in these images everything is covered except for that. In my understanding of these photos Masrtomatteo's idea may be the complete opposite, "Hear Evil, See Evil, Speak Evil." His photography definitely keeps me thinking. This is from Giuseppe Mastromatteo's 2010 series called "Indepensense."

This image makes me curious. I wonder if the faces shown on the mask are actually what the models look like. This potentially may be making a point about our society nowadays. This is only my opinion but it seems as if he is trying to say that the human race (females & males) hide who they are, behind imaginary masks. We are all so brainwashed by society that we can't focus on what is real. This is from Giuseppe Mastromatteo's 2008 series called "Indepensense."  

I'm not too sure what Mastromatteo may be trying to say with this photo but I wanted to add this to show that he doesn't only focus on the face. This is from Giuseppe Mastromatteo's 2009 series called "Indepensense."

This is another one of Mastromatteo's newer photos. In his 2012 series his only models are this Asian woman, the African woman in the second picture posted and a Caucasian male. I'm curious as to why he only chose three specific models and races. This is from Giuseppe Mastromatteo's 2012 series called "Indepensense." 

"T" Museo Triennale Bovisa

I chose this image because it is one of Mastromatteo's older photos. As you can see the red blocks coming out of each ear and her mouth form the letter "T," just like the title of this photograph. I wonder why he chose the letter T out of all the other possibilities in the alphabet. Maybe he named it after seeing that the blocks formed a T or maybe there is a deeper meaning to it. This is from Giuseppe Mastromatteo's 2006 series that he likes to call "Pre-Indepensense." 

Here is Giuseppe Mastromatteo's website if you are interested in seeing the rest of his work:

http://www.giuseppemastromatteo.com/art-gindepensense2012.html