Arien Chang Castan

Thomas Nickles Project is pleased to present work from Arien Chang Castan's A Base de Viandas Series, which celebrates the art of body building in Cuba. In a country where scarcity is the norm, these portraits of hyper-muscled men posing for the camera contain a certain narrative of the improbable. In Cuba, bodybuilding is not forbidden nor is it government sponsored—here Chang captures a cultural sub-universe of unexpected tenderness and unabashed physicality amidst public and private moments; where men build their own materiality, even their own gym equipment.