Exploring the darkest corners of the human psyche
- Text by Miss Rosen
- Photography by Victor Cobo, Courtesy of ClampArt, New York City
Over the past two decades, Victor Cobo has used photography to explore the dark corners of the human psyche. His work uses a compelling mix of documentary and staged scenes, addressing the primal mysteries of life and death, damnation and salvation, trauma and sex.
“I’m an emotional person that has had my bout with addiction, depression and anxiety,” Cobo says. “My biological father is mentally ill, was addicted to heroin and an acute alcoholic. I think the aspect of isolation and drama comes out in my work. I utilise to my advantage his psychosis that I most likely inherited. I try to turn these aspects of darkness into beautiful and sometimes even playful images.”
In the new exhibition Remember When You Loved Me, Cobo uses photography to spellbinding effect. Drawing inspiration from surrealism, film noir, and German expressionism, the photographer has transformed the camera into a therapeutic medium.
“My photographic world flourishes with my drive to create beauty in an abstract universe of dreams and reality,” he explains. “It’s a method of escaping the darkness.”
“I remember as a child in Spain, I would draw while my mother and father fought constantly; creativity was my escape from the difficulties of having to be two different people. As a teenager, I started experimenting with taking pictures of my friends while we were high on psychedelic drugs. My work grew increasingly abstract, and I got into making imagery of darker things: strange landscapes, animals – real moody stuff.”
Whether working in Mexico, Thailand, Greece, Spain, Canada or in his hometown of San Francisco, Cobo finds solace in making photographs that negotiate the uncharted spaces of the mind as it fights for, and sometimes against, its own survival.
“The mysteries of life are intriguing to me,” he says. “I gave myself permission in a way to express myself as freely and completely as possible.”
For Cobo, art gives purpose and shape to the existential questions that underlie the extraordinary complexities, challenges, and contradictions of modern life. “Unless you have religious feelings or something along those lines, how can you not think that our lives are meaningless – and become more so with age?” he asks.
“Although I know it has no direct meaning, is that I find it absolutely necessary to create. I love the possibilities of invention and the possibilities of something happening. Not because they’re worth something, but because they excite me.”
Victor Cobo: Remember When You Loved Me is on view at ClampArt Gallery, New York, through August 9.
Follow Miss Rosen on Twitter.
Enjoyed this article? Like Huck on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
Latest on Huck
Barry Keoghan, Franz Rogowski and Andrea Arnold on ‘Bird’
The new issue of Little White Lies brings Andrea Arnold’s sixth feature to life with a thematic voyage down the Thames estuary.
Written by: Maisy Hunter
“A party is a microcosm of a nation”: Caleb Femi on the decline of the house party
To celebrate the publication of his new collection ‘The Wickedest’, Isaac Muk caught up with Femi to talk more about the work, the future of the shoobs, and discuss why having it large on a Saturday night should be cherished.
Written by: Isaac Muk
Celebrating 20 years of The Mighty Boosh
A new exhibition takes a look behind the scenes of the iconic show two decades after its BBC3 premiere.
Written by: Isaac Muk
We Run Mountains: Black Trail Runners tackle Infinite Trails
Soaking up the altitude and adrenaline at Europe’s flagship trail running event, high in the Austrian Alps, with three rising British runners of colour.
Written by: Phil Young
The organisation levelling the playing field in the music industry
Founded in 2022, The Name Game is committed to helping female, non-binary and trans people navigate the industry.
Written by: Djené Kaba
Vibrant, rebellious portraits of young Cubans
A new photobook captures the young people redefining Cuban identity amidst increased economic and political turbulence on the Caribbean island.
Written by: Isaac Muk