The latest offering from Rio de Janeiro-based creative group Kolor Art Collective is just as unorthodox and distinct as fans of their work have come to expect. Photographed by Franco-Hungarian photographer and Kolor Art founder, Pol Kurucz, the group's newest series of surreal imagery is called ‘The Normals’ and calls into question the real meaning of the word.
A former finance CEO and theatre director, Kurucz – who also served as art director on the project – eventually abandoned that career and went on to merge his contradictory lives into one where absurdity makes sense. Today he works on eccentric fashion and fine art projects like ‘The Normals’ from his Rio de Janeiro studio.
Taking place entirely in the Kolor Studio where all the sets and accessories were built by the Collective members themselves, the subjects in ‘The Normals’ are all folk from Rio – models, performers, and actors – who consider themselves to exist on the periphery of what most would consider ‘normal’.
Featuring vividly coloured images of individuals living in decidedly unconventional ways, each photograph is more peculiar and quirky than the next. One sees a freckled, innocently-clad, redheaded teenager surrounded by pink accessories – including a gun, a pair of nunchucks and a teen magazine with the headline ‘Murder Your Boyfriend’. Another features a glamorously dressed woman with a meat-tag clinging to her ear consuming a popsicle made out of raw animal flesh.
In an artist’s statement released by the studio, they explained what the series means to them:
“By definition most people are “normal”. Some want to be different and follow the norms of a specific social or cultural tribe. They are normal too. And there are those who would laugh at such nonsensical categorizations, who don’t believe in or live by conventions, who create their own reality and live it naturally. They are the subject of Kurucz’s last photo series, genuine eccentrics, weirdos and lunatics who in the eyes of the photographer are the new Normals.”
To see more of the Kolor Art Collective’s work check out some of our previous coverage of their projects here or visit Kurucz's website.
Photography and art direction: Pol Kurucz
Styling: Natasha Sych
Set design: Mary Cruz, Lara Ferro
Casting and styling: Tamires Melo, Carolyna Mello
Beauty: Andressa Pontes
Coordination: Tamires Melo
