{"product_id":"sour-puss-the-opera-hardcover","title":"Sour-Puss: The Opera - Hardcover","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eDiogo Duarte\u003c\/b\u003e (Author), \u003cb\u003eJessica Mitchell\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSour-Puss: The Opera is the result of a 5-year collaboration between artist duo Diogo Duarte and Jessica Mitchell who also work in mental health. Consisting of photographs, drawings and texts, the 'Sour-Puss' of the title is a composite character sometimes based on real-life Mitchell and real-life Duarte and their life experiences. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDuarte and Mitchell were colleagues turned\u003cbr\u003e and then friends. The birth of 'Sour-Puss' was a gradual one emerging\u003cbr\u003ethrough conversations and arguments where they uncovered similarities in\u003cbr\u003eworldview, their feelings relating to themselves and a mutual dislike for\u003cbr\u003e'positive thinking'. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'The composite character bearing both biographical and fictional traits was\u003cbr\u003ecreated to expose the hypocrisies and inconsistencies within normative power\u003cbr\u003estructures. 'Sour-Puss' has no desire to 'accept' or 'assimilate' mainstream\u003cbr\u003eversions of gender and sexuality. 'Sour-Puss' is in the truest sense of the\u003cbr\u003eword, queer'. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'She is neither passive nor an object nor a limp body for my eyes to feast on.\u003cbr\u003eEven though my gaze, when I frame the photograph, is irrevocably mine and not\u003cbr\u003eJessica's, conceptually it's not just my gaze, it's ours. That is fundamentally\u003cbr\u003ewhat makes this collaboration unique. The story of the woman in the photographs\u003cbr\u003eand her drawings, but also her narrative, arose out of many hours of conversing\u003cbr\u003ewith Jessica about pain and repression, but also about happiness and freedom'.\u003cbr\u003e- Diogo Duarte \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'The series has led to some honest and challenging conversations. It has\u003cbr\u003eshocked me just how surprised some people are that anyone would take pictures\u003cbr\u003eof a woman who looks like me ... I think middle-aged women terrify people --we are\u003cbr\u003euncategorisable, we are harbingers of the 'doom' facing us all and we are cut\u003cbr\u003eloose, at least potentially, from many of the roles society likes to impose on\u003cbr\u003ewomen. Somehow 'Sour-Puss' embodies this--that I might do anything--and, in fact, \u003cbr\u003eI plan to'. - Jessica Mitchell \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Melancholia and a sense of isolation or alienation, feeling fundamentally\u003cbr\u003ewrong or at odds with the world, are the backing track to the work. Questions\u003cbr\u003eare raised concerning sexuality and gender, age and beauty, body image, and\u003cbr\u003eeven the idea of redemption or reconciliation and how it can be possible--or if\u003cbr\u003eit can be possible-- to live within the context of one's own \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e'insanities, ' accepting these as part of whom one is. Acceptance of\u003cbr\u003eoneself--the good, the \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003ebad and the ugly, or, as Mitchell says: 'loving oneself, and screwing up, and\u003cbr\u003eloving one's self again--accepting all the imperfections'. - From the essay by\u003cbr\u003eAnna McNay \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eDiogo Duarte is an Edinburgh-based, Portuguese artist specialising in queer self-portraiture and psychological portraits of other people. With a background in mental health and bereavement support, his primarily lens-based practice explores themes of queerness, ego, identity, expression and repression and mental health. Duarte works across several mediums including Portuguese XVII century tapestry 'Arraiolos'. Jessica Mitchell is a Brooklyn-born, London-based artist specialising in drawing and needlework. With a particular focus on working collaboratively her art is informed by an interest in issues of identity and internal worlds and by her work as a psychotherapist.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 148\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.71 x 11.65 x 8.43 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e April 12, 2022\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48376054022365,"sku":"9781910401569","price":64.8,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0811\/9867\/8237\/files\/juQBbr77kd9781910401569.webp?v=1786786639","url":"https:\/\/handfulofbooks.com\/products\/sour-puss-the-opera-hardcover","provider":"Handful of Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}