Jeffrey Silverthorne's Grotesque New Works at Galerie Pascaline Mulliez

Galerie Pascaline Mulliez in Paris presents recent staged photographs by Jeffrey Silverthorne, shifting from his earlier extreme subjects like transsexuals and corpses to models recruited via classified ads. The exhibition, titled 'Studio Work,' features series from the past twelve years, including 'The Caucasian Staircase series' depicting bodies fallen in a cramped staircase—the artist's basement, which he likens to the Jungian collective unconscious. Silverthorne often appears with his models, but the work is not autobiographical; it explores transgression, transformation, and transcendence. Recurring motifs include staircases (symbolizing ascent and fall) and curlers framing models' faces. In one series, a young woman is shown in various states of dress, preparing to dream, while Silverthorne illuminates her with a flashlight, staring insistently at the viewer. The gaze is central, and art historian Michel Poivert, in the catalog preface, describes these works as 'desiring devices' that trap the viewer into desiring what the artist desires, narrating photography's desire to become art by mimicking painting. Compared to Silverthorne's 2011 show at Galerie VU', which scrambled chronology, this coherent exhibition highlights new concerns like the artist-model relationship. Notable recent portraits of a young woman as Lucretia show Silverthorne stripping away props to focus on troubling presence.