Dr. Lee Jin-soo's Plastic Surgery Essay 34 - Reflections on Masks
The coronavirus is persisting for an extended period. Now, masks have become an integral part of our daily lives. Observing almost everyone on the streets wearing masks, I am reminded of the painter Richard Prince.
Masquerade nurse
ink jet and acrylic on canvas
203.2 × 116.8 cm
2004
This piece is one I saw at last year's 'LETTER Exhibition' held by Seoul Auction.
Richard Prince gained fame with his 'Cowboy' series, a direct parody of the 'Marlboro' cigarette advertisements. His practice of rephotographing other people's photos has given rise to the genre in the art world known as 'Rephotograph.'
When I mentioned this artist's rephotograph to an acquaintance, they immediately exclaimed, "That's so cheeky!" Indeed, Prince has faced legal challenges, including a trial for photo appropriation (initially acquitted in the first trial, but the decision was overturned in the second and third trials).
In the 2000s, he explored the theme of old third-rate novels' covers and presented the Nurse Series. The process involves choosing a cover image, printing it on a large canvas with inkjet, and then painting over it with acrylic. The painting process includes:
- 1-Initially painting over the background outside the characters.
- 2-Preserving the original title or erasing it to write a new one.
- 3-Occasionally painting over the characters' clothing, often giving the impression of flowing blood.
- 4-Always draw a mask on the faces of the characters. (This aspect is what makes me think of this work these days.) Compared to rephotograph works, the workload is quite substantial .
Nurse of Greenmeadow, 2002
Runaway nurse, 2005-2006
The original novel cover images: <All images sourced from Google>
The Nurse Series has been traded at incredibly high prices, ranging from several million to almost ten million dollars, at major auctions. While these works involve much more of the artist's touch than rephotographs, I was still astonished to see parody-level pieces like these fetching such high prices. It made me ponder where the boundary between appropriation and plagiarism lies in the art world.
Humans express a myriad of emotions, particularly through their mobile lips, more effectively than other animals. We can gauge someone's emotions by observing their lips. Research suggests that Westerners, in particular, have a stronger tendency to read emotions from the mouth. Therefore, in Western cultures, wearing masks was almost taboo before the COVID-19 pandemic because it was considered a significant disrespect towards others. This cultural perspective may explain why initially, in the West, masks weren't commonly worn during the early days of the pandemic.
In the West, there's a perception that masks are only worn by sick people or those taking care of the sick. Richard Prince's inclusion of masks as a symbol for nurses in the Nurse Series might be related to this perception.
Masks cover a significant portion of the face, including the nose, lips, and jawline—areas crucial for defining facial features. Especially for individuals with facial flaws, masks provide an easy way to conceal those imperfections.
There's an interesting recent episode related to this. A person who sought my advice mentioned that they used to hear a lot of comments about looking impressive, but lately, they hardly hear such remarks. The reason? Masks. Despite being uncomfortable, masks have the effect of concealing facial flaws.
Paradoxically, this person, while wearing masks, became more aware of the impact of their facial features and developed an interest in facial contouring procedures to correct those flaws.
In any case, I hope the issue of the COVID-19 virus is resolved soon, and we can be liberated from masks.
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