You're Only Young Twice

Well known artist Johnathan Yeo has explored the way in which surgery is perceived by the general public and how it is portrayed by the media, in his words, often with "judgmental finger-wagging". However, surgery is on the rise and Yeo likes to point out that it is only the kind of Artist that has changed. Portrait artists for many years were required to make their subject's appearance ring true to that of beauty ideals that were around at the time. Now this is the responsibility of surgeons as the lines between portraiture and medical procedure become increasingly blurred.

Yeo's photorealistic imagery, all in nude, beige and brown tones, give the viewer an almost confusing message. The painting seem almost serene in their colour pallet and stillness of the subjects, yet they show a grotesque reality of the procedures being done. All his works show face work and breast enhancements as on a whole, these are the two areas of surgery we are most fascinated by. I love the markings on the images and feel inspired to include these markings in some of my face charts.