Some artists are ahead of their time, but how many get to see time catch up to them? Celebrity make-up artist, photographer, and Instagram luminary Mathu Andersen has spent most of his career on the margins of popular aesthetics and gender expression. But in the past year his self-portraits have been featured in their own gallery show, and he was honored with an Emmy nomination for his work as RuPaul’s hair and makeup guru on “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” It seems Andersen is inching closer to the mainstream—or, perhaps more accurately, the mainstream is inching closer to him.A photo posted by Mathu Andersen (@mathuism) on Nov 1, 2014 at 8:35pm PDT
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Two converging social phenomena set the stage on which Andersen currently stands. First, increasing awareness of all the iterations of gender that lie between the binary poles have cleared the way for an artist like Andersen, who is reluctant to “labor under labels” when it comes to gender and sexuality. (“People say, ‘Well, you’re gay,’” he says. “And it’s like, ‘Well, if you say so, sure.’”) His reluctance to work within the binaries that drag has traditionally posited is fully displayed in his perfectly coiffed facial hair, present in every portrait and undermining even those that are otherwise masterful illusions of idealized femininity. The second revolution that paved the way for Andersen’s current renown is, of course, the social media platforms that connect Andersen to his thousands of fans. Andersen’s work and recent career arc are perfect artifacts of the 21st century.A photo posted by Mathu Andersen (@mathuism) on Feb 4, 2014 at 4:00am PST
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His work melds the contemporary and ancient, and as might be appropriate for someone with feet in two very different eras, Andersen’s engagement with the social media platforms that made him famous is somewhat cautious. Though it’s the primary vehicle of his artwork, Andersen laments the fact that most of social media is full of, as he calls it, “grandstanding, panhandling, and glad-handing.”“It’s a rather cynical way of looking at it,” says Andersen of the solipsism and self-promotion that comprise most of our online presences. “I know everyone’s a special snowflake. But snowflakes, when you put them all together, are just white stuff… Look at me, look at my latte. Really, you should be crediting your barista for that swirl.”A photo posted by Mathu Andersen (@mathuism) on Apr 20, 2014 at 11:57am PDT
A photo posted by Mathu Andersen (@mathuism) on Nov 22, 2013 at 12:58am PST
A photo posted by Mathu Andersen (@mathuism) on Nov 16, 2013 at 2:16pm PST
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To see more selfies of Mathu Andersen click here.Related:Drag Revues and Backwards Bach Performances: 7 Innovative Singaporean ArtistsA New Art Show Tracks Queer Life in Everyday Portraits"Idiot" Artist Takes a Selfie Every Day for 16 YearsA photo posted by Mathu Andersen (@mathuism) on Feb 21, 2014 at 12:24am PST