From the very first page, the scene is set: colored by a red plastic film, the torso is bare, the mustache groomed, the body posed, lascivious. A police cap firmly on his head, the man’s eyes remain in the shadows, unfathomable. Zoomed in to the point of abstraction, the portraits in Shadow Cast become pixelated to evoke “the unknown and the danger that emerges from it,” says Pacifico Silano.
For more than 10 years, the artist has been collecting archival images from vintage gay erotic magazines. Following the release of his previous book, I Wish I Never Saw the Sunshine, “an exploration of loss and desire during the AIDS crisis,” the photographer wanted to continue his research with a more critical perspective, “offering a reflection on our world, which is complex, difficult, and full of contradictions.”
Darker in tone, this new volume enlarges faces to full-page scale, restoring a human dimension. The blacks, deepened through risograph printing, erase facial features while contrasting with the whiteness of the muscles, all the while leaving a residue on the readers’ fingers—”as if to involve them in the act of looking,” adds the photographer.
This book was born out of an installation titled Psychosexual Thriller, “a grid of 12 portraits of a male archetype that simultaneously evokes desire and danger,” he explains. Shadow Cast plays with the limits of magnification, alternating between recognizable elements and dot-based networks, referencing Warhol’s Most Wanted Men. The title itself also questions the connection between fear and desire.
Dissecting Fetishization
For Pacifico Silano, “relegating these portraits to the shadows is laden with metaphor.” While the most obvious interpretation may be the anxiety born from the spread of HIV within the gay community, – “since many of these models appeared in these publications just before their deaths,” the artist reminds us – other readings are also welcome.
“One could also see this work as an illustration of sexual relationships and the potential violence that exists through anonymity,” he asserts. Anonymity, which has been facilitated by the popularity of dating apps, allows for both the assertion of freedoms and the emergence of risks.
In an almost entirely black-and-white palette – only a few intertwined bodies appear in color, offering a breath outside the oppressive opacity – the portraits in Shadow Cast summon timeless fantasies, visions of archetypal masculinity that remain difficult to break away from.
Cowboys, workers, and soldiers populate its pages, rendered sculptural by the chiaroscuro effects of printing and made timeless by the pixelation of zoomed-in details. Almost unreal, devouring the pages, they become vessels for our imaginations. “Through them, I dissect the fetishization of American identity that some gay men subvert, yet may inadvertently reinforce,” concludes the photographer.
Shadow Cast by Pacifico Silano is available from Loose Joints Publishing for €120.
