Artist 292
Philippe Shangti
Aestheticism as Activism
Photography
Philippe Shangti (born 1983) is a multidisciplinary French contemporary artist. He is known for his futuristic and artistic photography. His art also in limited edition sculptures, as well as video and live shows.
In these live shows he uses his experiences to organizes ephemeral private events on the international scene where he manages to recreate the artistic atmosphere he is immersed in, in order to carry the visitors away and intensely connect them to his artistic world.
Shangti creates provocative and glamorous universes in his photography where he actively looks to confront the viewer and create discomfort. He uses subtle subliminal coding to include and denounce serious causes in his various series.
Each new series is tackled as a tricky and bold challenge as it challenges the constructs of attraction and the allure of immorality in high fashion photography. He aims to break down taboos with his latest show and give us an insight as to what he would call his ‘crazy and sometimes disturbing world’.
His photographs use beautiful visuals, rather than violent ones. He explores vices of the world with aestheticism.
Aestheticism is an intellectual and art movement supporting the emphasis of aesthetic values more than social-political themes for literature, fine art, music and other arts.
His combination of the two are explained, “I didn't want to do art just to say it was beautiful. My goal was to use this medium to broadcast messages. The challenge has always been to denounce the denials and existing vices of our company. I'm talking about certain scourges that we rub shoulders with, for example, in the Tropezian jet-set or in Miami, these places which are nevertheless key destinations! With “ No Cocaine Here ”, the photographic series that launched me, I wanted to denounce the excessive consumption of artificial paradises as well as the denial, very often associated with this type of abuse.”
His motif includes flashy colours, a style of staging, and his signature that he directly draws on the body of his models.
By being attentive to the smallest details, the artist attaches great importance to the symmetry. Further the perspectives and the balance of the different elements of his works is crucial.
Philippe Shangti talks is this Balance: “The challenge was therefore to sublimate the message to challenge and ensure that we remember it. The use of aesthetics allows me to denounce causes in a more skilful way. In my other collections, I also talk about alcohol, prostitution, pollution and more recently the emancipation of women!”
He uses bodies as the canvases for his work. It becomes more and more complicated as he uses bodies with existing histories of being misrepresented. He walks a fine line between using sexualization in popular culture to showcase its shortcomings and creating more content on the topics he is arguing against.
His use of different cultures and bodies creates a sense of discomfort where his work is pointing that this is what occurs in the fashion world.
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Sources Consulted