As we are big fans of Dina Goldstein‘s work, we were paying close attention to her next solo show. Finally, the Californian Madison Gallery presents this month an exhibition featuring two excellent photo projects by Dina Goldstein.
First of all it is important to present her: Dina Goldstein is a Canadian photojournalist and conceptual photographer. Her work basically talks about beauty standards, society prejudices and norms and global human condition.
In this exhibition, the artists presents two photo projects: the “Fallen Princesses” serie and “In the Dollhouse”.
“Fallen Princesses” is a remake of the typical “happy end” we are fed since childhood. From Grimm fairy tales to Walt Disney’s movies, all their protagonists are beautiful princesses with beautiful husbands and beautiful houses. But is it real life? Of course not. In the real life you see poverty, death, loneliness, crimes, disease, obesity and pollution. This serie is an ironic look at these children’s parables, presenting the prince charming of Snow White as a sexist guy, the princess Jasmine as a warrior or Rapunzel without her beautiful hair because of cancer.
“In the Dollhouse” project tells the story of Barbie and Ken, peeking into the home and marriage these world’s most iconic dolls. Dina Goldstein explains through her photos their life as a couple and offers a profound reflexion about beauty, difficulty of marriage and authenticity. It seems that Barbie didn’t expected the real personality of Ken.
Both projects are now exhibited in Madison Gallery until May 4th. And if you want to know more about Dina Goldstein’s works, you can discover her las project “Gods of Suburbia” on her web.
“I have always felt that my photojournalism complements my conceptual photography — they inform each other technically and creatively. From photojournalism, I have learned that spontaneity and a lack of control are sources of inspiration. This has inspired trust in my instincts to nurture the most fleeting of concepts. For example, my Fallen Princesses series was born out of deep personal pain, when I raged against the “happily ever after” motif we are spoon fed since childhood. The series, which is included in this package, created metaphor out of the myths of fairy tales, forcing the viewer to contemplate real life: failed dreams, pollution and ocean degradation, war, obesity, the extinction of indigenous cultures, cancer and the fallacy of chasing eternal youth. By embracing the textures and colours created by Walt Disney, which built a multi-billion dollar empire exploiting these fairy tales, Fallen Princesses exposed the consumerism that has negated the morality of these ancient parables. It also begged the question, “how do we define the concept of ‘good’ and how do we live a ‘good’ life?” – Dina Goldstein
When: April 3rd – May 4th, 2015
Where: Madison Gallery – 1020 Prospect St. Ste. 130 – La Jolla CA 92037