Archive feature, first published 2018-07-21. Biographical details, audience figures and event announcements below refer to July 2018.
When we think of Disney, we tend to imagine those beautiful, deeply emotional fairytales where everybody always lives “happily ever after.” Well, Mexican visual artist José Rodolfo Loaiza Ontiveros reworks that expectation in his pictures. Specializing in pop culture, the artist measures his viewers' tolerance levels by putting our favorite characters in unorthodox contexts and showing them in controversial, often tough situations to explore the theme of “loss of innocence.”
In his work, the legendary and sometimes cheesy heterosexual happy endings have lost their exclusivity and have been deemed outdated. Scroll down to see your favorite Disney heroes having a different ending from what you expected.
More info: Facebook
The familiar ending is the material
José Rodolfo Loaiza Ontiveros uses the viewer's knowledge of Disney characters as part of the work. The 2018 feature described a theme of lost innocence and familiar characters placed in unexpected circumstances. The surprise depends on remembering how their stories are usually presented. Ask which expectation an image changes: the ending, the relationship, or the setting. A provocative remake can raise a useful question without becoming a literal prediction of how a character would live today. The tension between recognition and disruption is where much of its meaning sits.
A closer look
Separate recognition from interpretation: first identify the familiar character, then ask what the changed situation adds. The surprise often comes from the distance between childhood expectations and the artist's contemporary viewpoint.
Links from the 2018 feature: Facebook
Related reading: Andhika Muksin Brings Everyday Life to Disney Princesses.
Recognition makes the altered ending legible
Loaiza’s pictures depend on viewers bringing a remembered story to the image. A familiar costume or face can establish that connection before the changed setting becomes clear. The effect is strongest when both readings remain available at once: the character as remembered and the character in an unfamiliar situation. That tension lets the artist examine the expectations attached to popular stories, including whose relationships are usually allowed to count as a happy ending.
COMMENTS