Hollywood film star Marilyn Monroe has graced abundant magazine covers, film posters and newspaper pages, with many of those images gaining iconic status.
The exhibition Chinese Marilyn by Jing Zhao, part of the Head On Festival, explores the actor's obsession with presenting a glamourous persona to her adoring public. Hence in her famous photographs when she was at the height of her popularity - during the mid 1950s to her untimely death in 1962 - she was at pains to ensure she presented pure movie-star appeal: make-up, fashionable clothes and a sexy expression.
For Jing, this is an ideal metaphor for how she lived her life; hiding personal insecurity and loneliness beneath her Hollywood mystique.
He also believes it has resonance in today's celebrity-obsessed culture.
"I thought about how I could comment on this global infatuation with glamour and felt that I could rework a selection of original Marilyn images. I used the recognisable blonde hair and make-up but photographed girls with different skin colours to indicate the universal interest in her life," Jing said.
Although Jing's subjects are naked, he aimed to avoid a sense of superficiality in his photos.
"I did not shoot them to be idolised women. Rather, I have photographed the female body together with wrinkles and fat, striving to reveal the charismatic personality and the inner world of the characters behind the body."
Image by Jing Zhao.
Jing says he strove to capture the charisma and personality of the characters behind the body "because the most profound beauty is always associated with authenticity".
The exhibition is at NG Pop Up Art Gallery, Ground floor, Central Park on Broadway, Sydney NSW, from 27 May to 14 June. Viewing hours are 12pm - 4pm, Tuesday to Saturday.
Image by Jing Zhao.
