{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1385522"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1385522/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2017JX5599/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2017JX5599/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2017JX5599","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1385522","accessionNumber":"S.468-2017","objectType":"Photograph","titles":[{"title":"Chrisalys the Christmas Elf in a dressing room backstage at Supperclub, London, UK, 2012","type":"assigned by artist"}],"summaryDescription":"Chris Alys (b.1979), known by his transformative stage name of Chrisalys, grew up in the Cotswolds and derives his characters from his childhood fascination with animals. He trained as a professional dancer and 'sideshow freak' at the New York City Coney Island Sideshow. Magnus Arrevad observed how his performance was: 'full of focussed energy'. Chrisalys is seen here in 2012 in a dressing room at the Supperclub in London's Notting Hill, a venue that opened in 2009 and closed in 2014.  \n\nThis is one of a series of offstage photographs documenting the international scene of male performers taken by the Danish photographer Magnus Arrevad (b.1981) who is based in Berlin and London. Shot over a five-year period in cities ranging from New York to London, Copenhagen, Berlin and Paris, they feature the personal transformations of cabaret performers, drag queens, strippers and go-go dancers, capturing them bringing, as Magnus Arrevad has said: 'the dream of oneself into being'. Using a Mamiya 7 camera instead of a digital camera, gave Magnus: 'a sense of occasion to every shot, made each click of the shutter an event.' Many of the resulting photographs, that formed part of the 2015 exhibition and book <i>Boy Story: A Picture Book for Boys,</i>are imbued with the haunting sense of melancholy that the performers experience in the creation and exhibition of their 'other selves'. Arrevad shows how donning the makeup and costume was for the performers part of the process of removing a mask, not putting it on, and has said that working with them changed him from: 'a sheltered Danish photographer into a fully-immersed participant in the world of \"Boylesque\"'.\n\n\n\n\n\n ","physicalDescription":"Black and white photograph of Chrisalys the Christmas Elf sitting in his dressing room drinking from a straw and holding nail varnish","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Arrevad, Magnus","id":"AUTH343585"},"association":{"text":"photographer","id":"x43821"},"note":""},{"name":{"text":"Arrevad, Magnus","id":"AUTH343585"},"association":{"text":"printer","id":"x43274"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"printing ink","id":"AAT187371"},{"text":"paper","id":"x30308"}],"techniques":[{"text":"photography","id":"AAT54225"},{"text":"printing","id":"AAT53319"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Silver gelatin print on archival fibre paper","categories":[{"text":"Photographs","id":"THES48910"},{"text":"Cabaret","id":"THES274470"},{"text":"Cross-dressing","id":"THES274899"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&P","id":"THES48602"},"images":["2017JX5599"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"007","id":"THES345371"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"photographs","id":"AAT46300"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"No","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"London","id":"x28980"},"association":{"text":"photographed","id":"x30151"},"note":""},{"place":{"text":"London","id":"x28980"},"association":{"text":"printed","id":"x46159"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"2016","earliest":"2016-01-01","latest":"2016-12-31"},"association":{"text":"printed","id":"x46159"},"note":"This is one of eight photographs specially printed for the Department of Theatre and Performance by Magnus Arrevad on archival fibre paper"}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by Adam Donen","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"65.0","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"Magnus Arrevad 5/12","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":""}],"objectHistory":"In the 19th and 20th centuries, showmen and impresarios in Europe and the United States exhibited people and animals whose appearances or talents they deemed spectacular as 'freaks'. They engaged people for their unique talents and abilities as well as their appearances, exploiting medical conditions, physical traits, and racialised characteristics. These skills and features were sensationalised in marketing to attract audiences, objectifying performers and perpetuating negative stereotypes for financial gain.\r\n\r\nThis type of exhibition was often found in fairgrounds, exhibition halls, zoological gardens and circuses alongside traditional performance, science and art displays. It was described as a ‘sideshow’ or ‘freak show’. \r\n\r\nThe term ‘freak’ has been reclaimed in recent years by groups who choose to celebrate their perceived differences.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Chrisalys the Christmas Elf in a dressing room backstage at Supperclub, London, UK, 2012. Silver gelatin print on archival fibre paper by Magnus Arrevad","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"page 53","free":"Reproduced in <i>Boy Story: a Picture Book for Boys</i> by Magnus Arrevad, 2015, with the text: 'I've been dresing up as animals since I was five. You can get away with more dressed as an animal.'"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["S.468-2017"],"accessionNumberNum":"468","accessionNumberPrefix":"S","accessionYear":2017,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-01-28","recordCreationDate":"2017-02-27","availableToBook":true}}