8/4/2023 0 Comments Jonathan yeo paintings![]() “I’m documenting the artistry, as plastic surgeons really understand the structure of the human body. On the creative links between artist and subject Yeo has stated: In the paintings that depict the lines drawn onto the skin of the patient, showing where the flesh will be cut, pulled and sculpted, the marks allude to the hand of the surgeon and the necessary preciseness that the procedures demand. It occurred to him that in the same way artists in the pre-photographic era, such as Van Dyck, would often slightly improve their subject’s appearance, the job of the cosmetic surgeon is to sculpt and tweak people into a more idealized version of themselves. In dialogue with surgeon friends, Dr Martin Kelly and Dr Miles Berry, Yeo has investigated the role of the surgeon as artist or sculptor, and witnessing various operations first hand has allowed him to fully engage with this other form of ‘artistry’, which Yeo has described as, “like watching a master craftsman”. ![]() The paintings reveal many unseen aspects of this contemporary phenomenon, examining the reality of what happens in the operations, and inviting the audience to reflect on the lengths patients will go to in the pursuit of beauty, and the psychological pressures behind decisions to undergo surgery. The Surgery Series continues to explore his long-held interest in physiognomy and notions of human identity. The concept behind the series first captured Yeo’s interest in 2010 when he was spending a considerable amount of time in Los Angeles, arguably the world capital of physical enhancement. He lives and works in London.Jonathan Yeo’s Aesthetic Surgery Series, begun in 2011, seeks to explore the current prevalent trend for cosmetic surgery and the quest for physical ‘perfection’. He is married to former actress and journalist Shebah Ronay and they have 2 daughters. He has just published a print portfolio with The Paragon Press and there is a solo show planned at the National Portrait Gallery in 2013. It has also been widely exhibited in galleries nationally and internationally (including Athens, Berlin, Bethlehem, Hamburg, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Miami, New York and Shanghai). Yeo's work is in the Royal Collection, the National Portrait Gallery and the House of Commons art collection. These paintings were the subject of his exhibitions "You're Only Young Twice" in London and "Under My Skin" in Berlin. His most recent body of work explores developments in cosmetic surgery and the lengths people are prepared to go in the pursuit of youth and beauty. The exhibition "Blue Period" (2008) included nudes as well as portraits made the same way, and the follow up show "Porn In The USA" (2010) brought similar works, along with paintings and new wallpaper designs, to a new audience in downtown Beverly Hills. ![]() ![]() Made entirely from pornographic magazines, it marked a new direction in his work, and subsequent subjects to receive the collage treatment include Hugh Hefner, Mary Whitehouse, Tiger Woods, Sigmund Freud and Paris Hilton. After a presidential commission was cancelled, Yeo instead made a collage of George W Bush which was unveiled at Lazarides Gallery, London, in 2007. His best known work includes a world weary Tony Blair painted at the very end of his premiership, an iconic painting of Erin O’Connor and now familiar images of Prince Philip, Dennis Hopper and Grayson Perry. He became known as a contemporary portraitist in the late 1990s, exhibiting frequently at the the National Portrait Gallery. He didn’t go to art school but took up painting while recovering from Hodgkins Disease in his early 20s. Jonathan Yeo (b 1970) is a British artist specialising in portraiture and collage. ![]()
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