Suspending Torso
Julian Lee
Asia One
Text by Julian Lee
Hardcover
60 pages
30.5 cm x 37 cm
2010
ISBN: 9789881971630
Unique and unforgiving in their demand for exacting form, composition and lighting, nudes constitute one of the most revealing expressions of the photographer’s creative edge. In “Suspending Torso”, Julian Lee reflects on his fragmented exiled identity via a series of male nudes created between 1985 and 2010. Cast as both an alter-ego and an object of desire, the works evolved from their early melancholia and sentiments of pain to a more subtle, voyeuristic interpretation of a male body that is tinged with nostalgic classical romanticism.
With his later works taking inspiration from such figures as Jean Cocteau, Edward Muyerbridge and Etienne Jules Marey, Lee’s black-and-white males figure appear as almost sculpted marbles, or as a ‘human machines’ absorbed in cool reflection. By contrast, the artist’s more recent studio nudes employ a more intimate approach which invites comparison with the works of Francis Bacon, Ingres and Massacio.
About the Artist:
Julian Lee is an associate professor in the School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong. He is also a photographer, a writer and a director.
About the Publisher:
Asia One is a fine art publishing house established in 2007. It is based in Hong Kong.
