The Myths of Human Erectness explores the human body as both subject and object, interrogating the myths surrounding masculinity, erectness, and human supremacy. The male figure emerges as something between flesh and artifact: inert yet monumental, sculptural yet estranged from its own humanity. It becomes an object of value —cold, metallic, imposing— echoing the aura of a silver statue, simultaneously precious and unsettling.
This transformation questions the inherited narrative of erectness —a symbol of dominance, progress, and ego rooted in the evolutionary leap from quadruped to biped— and the authority that humans have claimed over the world and other species.By reimagining the body as an object-tool, The Myths of Human Erectness subverts traditional visual codes of virility and power, inviting the viewer to reflect on the fragility of the human versus the object and the machinein a figurative photography.
Myth #3, 2014-2025. Figurative Photography
Myth #3, 2014-2025
From The Myths of Human Erectness series
Metallic archival pigment print
Limited Edition.
Unframed
Javier Rey is a Colombian artist and photographer. His work has been shown in many collective exhibitions, solo exhibitions, and several international art fairs such as ArtLima (Peru), Scope Art Fair (Miami), and La Feria Del Millón (Colombia). Rey's work has also appeared in books such as "Unlocked", by the Greek collective Atopos, and was chosen as one of the 145 most relevant visual artists and photographers on the web in 2015. His work have been featured in several publications in Colombia, the USA, Mexico, Germany, Spain, Denmark, and other countries.
