Artist Angie Lazaro Challenges Prescribed Beauty in New Exhibition...Click to Read More >>➤
South African artist and photographer Angie Lazaro is turning her critical eye toward the very industry she excels in. Her latest exhibition, ‘Pose/essed,’ actively questions why beauty standards for women remain so rigidly defined. The show is currently on display at the Merchantec Capital Gallery in Illovo.
Lazaro describes the exhibition as both a personal admission and a broader cultural reflection. It scrutinizes the need for prescribed beauty and asks who ultimately benefits from these narrow ideals. The project originated from a point of personal contradiction for the artist. She is now critiquing the same types of images she has built her career creating. Lazaro aims to highlight the inner workings of the beauty industry. She wants viewers to analyze the images it celebrates with a more critical perspective, rather than accepting them as the norm.
Reimagining Beauty from Antiquity to the Digital Age
A central motif in Lazaro’s work is the reimagining of the Aphrodite of Milos. She uses this classical symbol of beauty to trace a direct line from ancient ideals to today’s digital standards. Lazaro notes that while trends change, a dominant standard of beauty always persists. Her work challenges the notion that women must be placed in a specific box and told how they should look. Through sculpture, collage, and video, she deconstructs the creation of the “perfect” female image. Each medium explores how beauty has been sculpted, staged, and sold throughout history.
The exhibition’s title itself plays with this duality. The “pose” represents the performance of beauty, while “possessed” hints at how women’s bodies are consumed by the public gaze and commercial interests. Lazaro created negative spatial sculptures to show how the pose has become a constraining ritual. She points out that the goal is often to appear longer, slimmer, or more glamorous, even if the effect is artificial. This performance is not limited to high fashion. Lazaro observes that social media influencers, from mega-celebrities to everyday users, employ the same calculated optics. They follow trends and use specific camera angles to achieve a desired look of beauty.
The Gap Between Inclusivity and Commercial Reality
Having spent years behind the camera, Lazaro admits her own complicity in propagating these ideals. She recalls directing models to contort their bodies to achieve more length or curve. This process, she argues, pushes the individual until the person disappears, leaving only an object of desire. Her exhibition serves as a stark reality check on the limits of progress. While inclusivity and diverse body representation are often discussed, Lazaro’s research suggests a different commercial reality. She studied UK Vogue covers and found that a single inclusive cover featuring plus-size models was not followed by a sustained shift.
Lazaro explains that media outlets are commercial ventures that must sell products. A certain idealized image often sells more effectively than others. This creates a powerful cycle where trends showcased by influential figures lead to widespread imitation. When a celebrity like Kylie Jenner popularizes a look, it triggers a wave of women seeking similar alterations. This projected image becomes a powerful, and often damaging, reality. Lazaro questions the impact on young women who are made to feel they are not enough.
Ultimately, Lazaro’s work is an invitation to pause and reflect. She acknowledges that simply declaring everyone beautiful will not solve deeply ingrained issues. People will still judge. However, she believes we can start by critically examining the images we are sold. Understanding the origin and purpose of these beauty standards is the first step. We should not internalize the pressure to look a certain way to be considered valuable or wanted. ...Click to Read More >>➤
