“I needed to make my unknown known,” says New York-based artist Angelo Musco in the documentary 'The Land of Scars' which is an intensely intimate exploration of the artist's four+ year journey to uncover both the physical and emotional scars of his life and present them in an epic art piece by the same name.
This work is the artist’s most personal exploration from his traumatic birth to today. Musco is known for his manipulation of millions of nude bodies, but in his 48 years, he has never posed himself, until now. In documenting and presenting a work with so many personal layers of emotion he steps in front of the camera for the first time and into the work to make peace with his own physical scars and imagined limitations. This search for his truth compelled Musco to also reach out and track down ex-lovers, friends, and family, to invite them to pose for this special work, become the main characters, and put the attention on the real markers in his life, with their faces, eyes, and expressions, immortalizing on paper the individuals already imprinted in his emotional soul.
Research for this work took the artist to the deserts of Utah, Nevada, and New Mexico where the silence of the land nurtured a dialogue necessary to create this intimate and monumental work.
Production required both Domestic and International travel to photograph and create the necessary material. Construction continued despite the Covid-19 Pandemic adding a complicating layer to the stratification of the rocks due to the unexpected factors of working remotely, coordinating with assistants remotely, and documenting new people and missing models at a time when many people were not traveling. This world event forced unconventional ways of working due to health concerns and travel restrictions which also is part of the piece and part of this story.
The final work is an epic multipaneled 40' long by 12' high photograph printed on metallic paper mounted between Plexiglass and Aluminum, depicting a vast landscape composed of thousands upon thousands of nude bodies. This along with the stories of all those who participated will be on display on April 27th, 2022, at the premiere of the documentary film, 'The Land of Scars'.
More info: angelomusco.com
'The Land of Scars' Documentary Trailer
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