Wk 3- Artist Conversation- Daniel Amaro

Artist: Daniel Amaro

Exhibition: Equations of Beauty

Media: Photography

Gallery: CSULB School of Art, Dr. Maxine Merlino Gallery

Website: Unknown

Instagram: Unknown

About the Artist

Daniel Amaro’s photographs were found in the Merlino Gallery, and formed part of the Florida/ California Exchange exhibition brought in from students from the University of Central Florida/ Daytona Beach. Although Daniel was unfortunately not present, I did find out from the exhibit coordinator Nicole Goudarzian that he is currently an undergraduate student, and that his art, as well as the other artists forming a part of this exhibition were selected through a juridical process in which only a handful were selected to have their art shown at CSULB. Although I wasn’t able to personally speak to Daniel, I was able to get a glimpse into the meaning of his artwork through his statement.

Formal Analysis

Although it is difficult to see through the pictures I took of Daniel’s art, there are lines running across the subject’s faces meant to outline the geometric features of each face. The photographs are taken in black and white, while the computer-generated lines are a faint purple. Not only does each set of images feature a front facing picture, but also a side profile, to give us a better view of the subject’s physical features.

Content Analysis

In his statement, Daniel mentions that his photographs are meant to highlight the idea of how we are constantly bombarded by physical ideals, and beauty standards. He went on by stating that “the importance of facial aesthetics is exhibited through our history by the thousands of works of art depicting attractiveness.” Amaro is essentially inspired by the constant ideals that we are expected to conform to and perceive as desirable.

My Experience

In society, it is a person’s looks that we often place a high value on, especially upon first impression, so with this exhibit I was interested in seeing that not only was he photographing a face, but the geometry and science behind one’s attractiveness as well. We often don’t think about just how focused we are on the beauty of the images and people surrounding us, or just how much of an impact they have on our daily lives, but Amaro’s art draws attention to the more technical side of viewing a human face. I find that as a society we are constantly being told what we should look like, and how we can become closer to meeting the standards of perfection, and so as a result we feel pressured to change our characteristics to meet those of the preconceived ideal features, even though we can’t all meet these same standards of physical geometry.