PLANET STORIES consists of a set of 15 works made in digital format, built with Mano’s own photography and cuttings from magazines, comics and cinema postcards of the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s found meticulously in the Sant Antoni market, in Barcelona city. References in the series include pop, comics, pulp aesthetics, horror movies, kitsch and porn.

At a time when the debate about censorship in social networks is gaining strength, this series of works allows Mano to reflect on censorship in art and the possibility of taking it as a tool for creation. The conception of what is reprehensible or not is questionable and it is precisely there that numerous moral judgments come into play that depends on the culture and ideology of a specific site, or on the context in which a photograph is published. The collages of Mano try to make an impact on the viewer, and lead him to immerse himself in the work, to stop and observe the different images that interact with each other in their own language. The series leads us to reflect on the prevailing hypocrisy around nude and sex, both in the media that define censorship, and in the viewer itself.

Photos | Mano Martinez | Instagram