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Recently, 'A Journal of Performance and Art' declared Anthony Goicolea as one of three up-and-coming artists working in the
realm of photographic self-portraiture and, consequently, following in the wake of Cindy Sherman. Born in Atlanta, Georgia
in 1971, Anthony Goicolea is a Cuban American artist who is best known for his photos where he merges several images of himself
as a young boy into one final seamless image. Even though the artist is in his early thirties, Goicolea is continually able
to present himself as numerous children in a convincing manner and has even put up to as many as twelve different images of
himself into one picture. These photos are not exactly fond memories of childhood but are rather often about rambunctious
schoolboys getting into situations they are not supposed to. Often these boys are exploring their sexuality or other taboo
subjects. In 'Bedwetters,' Goicolea gives us an overhead birds eye view of two boys sleeping in the same bed where one of
the boys has urinated in his sleep. It is images like this that are able to portray the growing pains of having to conform
bodily urges to social norms. Adding another dimension to these images is the fact that Goicolea is a homosexual. While the
artist is definitely exploring the common awkward experience of puberty, perhaps he is also drawing on the more personal experiences
of a transition from a state of innocence to an ostracized sexual identity. Although he is primarily known for his digital
photos, Goicolea has also recently done several short films that put his rowdy lads in motion. Goicolea did his undergraduate
work at the University of Georgia where he studied art history, drawing and painting and in 1996 he got his MFA from the Pratt
Institute in New York in sculpture and photography. Today, Goicolea is now based out of Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
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