Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art: Feminist Art Base: Nicky Hoberman

Nicky Hoberman was born in Cape Town, South Africa in 1967. She has an MA in Modern History from Oxford University, a BFA from Parsons and an MA from Chelsea School of Art. She lives and works in London. She was selected for the 1996 New Contemporaries at Tate Liverpool and included in Saatchi's New Neurotic Realists. She has been in group shows at the Chicago MoCA, Sydney MoCA, Melbourne National Gallery of Victoria and Magasin 3, Stockholm. She has had 3 solo shows at Feigen Contemporary, New York.

After spending years depicting little girls, dealing with emotional dislocation and 'girl power', I’ve moved onto men. I’m exploring contemporary masculinity. By using the images and words men choose to portray themselves on mainstream Internet dating sites, I am examining how masculinity has evolved; plastic toys in the 50s were regular looking guys and today they have become muscled, testosterone pumped up toy figures. Two psychiatric personality disorders emerge (as classified by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). Yes I do love myself looks at narcissists ( the disorder apparently occurs 50-75% more often in men than in women). Getaway Guys depicts avoidants (a personality disorder where subjects avoid real involvement with others, crippled by feelings of inadequacy). My 3rd investigation is called 10 Parts Man. It's comprised of overlapping images of 10 recurrent themes (ranging from disguises/fancy dress; grimaces; stress on bodies with bicep flexing; motorcycles and cars; sports and jumping; animals (curiously mostly at the same eye level); mirrors; too sexy for my shirt; hiding in clothes; reclining/sleeping). Strangely, many of these men seem to be advertising their bodies, almost as if they're ashamed of their inner selves. I’ve made about 200 drawings of the men's heads. These are based on photos they posted on the net. The drawings are in candy coloured inks on glossy translucent plastic which allude to the computer screen. These are like a contemporary feminist butterfly collection with the prey turning into the hunter. One man admitted that cyber dating allowed him to pick women like choosing candies. Instead, my seductive sweet colours act as a mask and have a rawness, rather like an obsessive love-struck teenager’s bedroom. The drawings are accompanied by a darkly funny sound piece, where the narcissists say “ If I could, I’d date myself”. The avoidants, however, proclaim “I’m a walking disability, and when I’m not walking my personality does the rest” . The cacophony of overlapping images, accompanied by the audio track played low, makes the viewer feel as if they've entered the minds of these men. I think this project is more than just a reflection on the many who cruise Internet dating sites; it alludes, rather, to a more general shift in society, where celebrity culture is lauded, and where displacement activities, such as living through cyber avatars, are increasingly common.