The art of Sam Taylor Wood

Steps to heaven: in Sam Taylor-Wood's Pietà the artist cradles the actor Robert Downey Jr in a silent two-minute performance that echoes the Pietà of Michelangelo

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/3570984/Spirit-of-the-age.html

Beckham Sleeping

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/3616013/Beckham-the-sleeping-beauty.html

“Men Don’t Cry” takes a look at the a series of male celebrities such as Daniel Craig, Ed Harris, Robin Williams and Michael Pitt caught in the intimate act and still rarely seen act of crying. It’s a series of photographs that carry a real impact, and not just because of the stars involved.

http://comeintoland.com/2013/02/19/sam-taylor-woods-men-dont-cry/

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2004/oct/29/art

And Brontosaurous from the Tate catalogue

Naked and alone in his bedroom, the dancer is performing an activity which usually takes place in a public space and which mixes acting with self-expression. By projecting the dance in slow-motion, Taylor-Wood has broken it down into a series of poses. The dancer appears to be lost in his own private ritual and oblivious to the camera's eye, and thus becomes an object of voyeurism, exposed in a state of extreme vulnerability. The chasm separating him from the viewer is extended by the poignancy of Barber's Adagio of 1936, which was used by the directors Oliver Stone in Platoon 1986 and David Lynch in Elephant Man 1980, two films which address male heroism and deformity. Moving between almost neo-classical heroic elegance and beauty, awkwardness, pathos and sheer ridiculousness, Brontosaurus covers a range of contradictory but co-existing human states and feelings. The archeological or primal nature of these is suggested by the title, which is the name of a dinosaur. This is comically referred to by a pink stuffed version visible in a corner of the room. 

http://vk.com/video9050442_166368936