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Hyperrealist Intimacy: Photography by Manuel Archain that pretends to be sculpture

With the popularity of hyperrealism in sculpture, Buenos Aires-based photographer Manuel Archain wanted to flip our perception of art on its head by creating Hyperrealist Intimacy – a series of images that pretend to show incredibly realistic sculptures of humans, but which are instead digitally-manipulated photographs.

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Person seated on a white cube, hugging their knees to their chest with head bowed, from Manuel Archain's Hyperrealist Intimacy series

He explains: "The uncomfortable lack of context and the body which reveals folds, stains, textures that we generally try to hide and erase, may these be what we really feel attracted to after all? Sculpture, as well as photography, invites us to pause. As if captured by an abyss, we are moved by the curiosity for someone else's body, but mainly, by someone else's intimacy.

"A photograph that pretends to be a sculpture invites us to pay attention to the detail, unable to spin around, we have to accept that the other sides are there as well. We are obliged to accept that the piece has been edited for us, making us focus on one part of it only. In each case, the study and the election of the instant of movement are present. Even inviting us to doubt its existence as a sculpture.

"Almost laughing at ourselves. We may recognise ourselves in them, either as a whole or in pieces, trying to discover ourselves. That absurd human intention to represent what is real, and to keep looking for the repetition of what is quotidian with the slightest detail, almost an exercise of personal analysis when we want to be in someone else's skin."

To see this series in the flesh, so to speak, then you should visit Start art fair at the Saatchi Gallery in London from 15-18 September 2016.

Via direct submission | All images courtesy of Manuel Archain

Woman sitting on a beige geometric platform against a white background, wearing a cream cardigan and black shorts, looking directly at the camera
Digitally-manipulated photograph appearing as a hyperrealistic sculpture of a shirtless middle-aged man with arm raised, displayed on a white plinth against a neutral background
Woman perched on a wooden chair atop a white plinth, wearing a white bikini top and grey socks, gazing downward in Manuel Archain's hyperrealist photograph
Shirtless man standing on a white platform examining grey fabric held at his waist, with crumpled grey fabric on the platform beside him
Woman in mustard crop top and cream linen skirt sitting cross-legged on white plinth against plain background, from Manuel Archain's Hyperrealist Intimacy series
Bare-chested tattooed man with a contemplative expression standing on a white plinth against a neutral background
Man with shaving foam on his face holding a razor, positioned on a white pedestal against a neutral background
Shirtless man with dark curly hair standing barefoot on a white rectangular plinth, wearing grey-blue trousers, gazing downward against a plain grey background
Person with shoulder-length pink hair wearing a light pink t-shirt, resting hands on a white geometric form against a neutral background
Woman in purple sports bra standing on a white plinth, looking downward with hand on lower back, from Manuel Archain's Hyperrealist Intimacy series
Draped beige ribbed fabric sculpture on a white plinth, appearing to be a torso with an abstracted human form beneath
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