Polaroid Test: Nadav Kander 1994. Treatment: Matuschka. 

In 1991, while undergoing chemotherapy, Matuschka joined W.H.A.M! ----a direct action group in NYC---- to form The Breast Cancer Action Movement (BAM)! in an effort to bring greater awareness to the ‘breast cancer epidemic’. She designed a series of breast cancer posters for the group which included many photographic self-portraits. W.H.A.M! distributed these posters nationally and eventually one caught the attention of The New York Times. On August 15th, 1993, Matuschka’s self portrait, entitled  Beauty out of Damage was published on the cover of their Sunday Magazine.

This controversial choice for their cover, infuriated many, but sparked debate about the treatment, awareness, and depiction of breast cancer throughout the world. This historical publishing decision made headline news and ended an era of silence, shame, and concealment for millions of women all over the world.

Photo: Matuschka, 1993 for The New York Times Magazine. 

"Her project is bold and simple: to show that the body can be beautiful, even in the most conventional ways, after it has been disfigured. She is most effective when she presents herself to us with direct seduction. We are forced to confront the scarred flesh and to admit that Matuschka is very desirable, that sexual power resides in the personality." - Michael Einstein, Chicago Tribune, Illinois. 1994

Photo: Jennifer Towes for General Idea. Behind the scenes 1997. 

Photo: Jennifer Towes for General Idea. Behind the scenes 1997. 

Photo: Nick Knight for Dazed and Confused 2000.

Photo: Nick Knight for Dazed and Confused 2000.

Photo: Nadav Kander, 1994. Published in Beauty is Nothing by Nadav Kander, 2001. 

Photo: Robert Maxwell, More Magazine, 2005. Treatment: Matuschka. 

Photo: Matuschka for Tattoos for Women, 2003. 

“Matuschka’s work is self-absorbed but her self-absorption has nothing to do with either narcissism or the reverse narcissism of self-loathing. She is her own raw material. And she looks at her raw material objectively and manipulates it unflinchingly in a way, which now seems uncannily predictive.” - Anthony Haden-Guest, 2007.

Photo: Matuschka, 1993. Book jacket mockup, 2011. 

"Matuschka brought a critical eye, considered thought, contrivance, artifice and farce into what had previously been exclusively within the domain of personal expression. She was savvy enough to add humor and irony to the substance of the shots. The casual eroticism is at odds with the political content. Matuschka's work includes a nod to modern art: there is as much of Andy Warhol as there is of Dick Avedon in her photographs." - Rick Cusack for High Times, 1994. 

Rick Cusack High Times 1994

Málaga, Spain, 2011. 

Photo: Jesus Jiménez. Málaga, Spain, 2011. 

Málaga, Spain, 2011.