Dina Goldstein

Dina Goldstein (born 1969) is a visual artist based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She is a photographer and pop surrealist with a background in documentary photography.
Goldstein creates tableau with a nuanced visual language that places the mundane and everyday in unusual settings to inspire insight into the human condition. She is most known for her series "Fallen Princesses", created in 2007, which depicts humanized Disney Princesses placed in realistic, modern scenarios. The series envisions how the lives of these famous characters would have played out in the real world, and touches on such everyday scourges as poverty, obesity, cancer and pollution. Goldstein was awarded the "Arte Laguna" special prize in 2012. In 2014, Goldstein won the grand prize at Prix Virginia; her work was exhibited in Paris, France.
Early life and education.
Dina Goldstein was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, and in 1976 emigrated to Canada. Goldstein studied art history and photography at Langara College in Vancouver, B.C., and completed her studies in 1993.
Photography.
Goldstein's career in photography started with photojournalism and documentary work (1993–2000), she went on to photograph editorial and commissioned work for magazines and advertising agencies (2000–2009). Her first public exhibition was "Images of Gaza" (2001), a series of black and white portraits of people living in the West Bank and Gaza.
'Fallen Princesses' (2009).
Goldstein's first large-scale tableau series Fallen Princesses debuted publicly in 2009. The series was exhibited in numerous galleries, at group show at BYU Museum of Art, and in the Musée De La Femme in Quebec, Canada in 2013.
The series consists of 10 photographs depicting Disney Princesses and other Fairy Tale characters placed within a modern environment. By embracing the textures and colors created by Walt Disney, which built a multibillion-dollar empire exploiting these fairy tales, the work questions the notion of the idealistic 'Happily Ever After' motif, composed by Disney, and spoon fed to children throughout the world.
'In the Dollhouse' (2012).
In a series of large-format photographic tableaus, Goldstein creates a storyline for the Barbie and Ken dolls, using real-life models. Trapped in a loveless marriage, Ken struggles with his sexuality. Using sequential story-telling, Goldstein creates a bright, plastic, pop-surrealist narrative. "The series unfolds a tragicomic tale of the perils of being plastic and the potential for salvation through authenticity. Barbie gets the short end of that stick – in Goldstein’s telling of her story, she endures psychological dysfunction, an emotional breakdown, a really bad haircut and, ultimately, decapitation. Ken finds his authenticity and finally realizes true happiness".
'Gods of Suburbia' (2014).
""Gods of Suburbia" is Goldstein’s third large-scale project. The work is a visual analysis of religious faith within the context of the modern forces of technology, science and secularism. The series plays with narrative and religious iconography in order to communicate how organized belief has become twisted within a global framework driven by consumerism and greed" 
"By constructing a cosmetic reality, one that mirrors our own, Goldstein doesn't evade discussion, but rather creates it. In doing so, Gods and deities, believed to be too sacred for criticism, are personified and whose religious practices contradict their dogma".
'Modern Girl' (2016).
Modern Girl 2016, Inspired by Chinese advertising posters of the 1930s, Modern Girl examines identity, gender roles, diasporic cultures, and consumerism. By re-imagining iconic Chinese advertisements to critique the beauty, health and wellness industries, Modern Girl investigates how traditional gender roles, and individualistic consumer values have constructed and used women's bodies to market and sell products. According to Goldstein, the visual source inspiration of 1930's Chinese advertising posters is central in capturing the tensions of past traditions and the push for modernity: "The breaking away from filial tradition in this era saw the emergence of Asian women coming into their individuality," says Goldstein. "At the same time, modern gender roles and expectations opened the door to exploit the female form for marketing and advertising campaigns." 
'Snapshots From The Garden Of Eden' (2017).
Snapshots From The Garden Of Eden (2017), was commissioned by the Contemporary Jewish Museum Of San Francisco for the group exhibit Jewish Folktales Retold: Artist as Maggid; based on 100 Jewish tales, collected and retold by folklorist Howard Schwartz, in the book 'Leaves From The Garden Of Eden'. For this Goldstein photographed a series of 11 large-scale black and white theatrical images, modernized scenes from each of the four primary types of tales: fairy tales, folktales, supernatural tales and mystical tales. The series features rich and ethnically diverse characters, made up of divine royalty, temptresses, supernatural spirits, and Hasidic figures. Goldstein uses dreamscapes and symbolism to explore, and subvert popular traditional Jewish themes like destiny, temptation, justice, wisdom, blind faith and circumstance. Snapshots From The Garden Of Eden is a traveling series, exhibited at the Museo Ebraico, Venice, in 2018, and currently being presented internationally at Jewish museums and centers.
'The 10 Commandments' (2019).
Dina Goldstein's latest work The 10 Commandments (2019), inspired by the election of Donald Trump in 2016, exposes the deceit, hypocrisy and misogyny displayed within the US body politic. The series seeks to examine the socio-political makeup of America through its political icons, the presidential figures that mark the most notable and controversial chapters in American history. Each tableau features a President portrayed through the prism of their politics, popularity and/or notoriety, further contextualized by a contemporary backdrop, and assigned one of the postulates of the Ten Commandments. These, often humorous, narrative juxtapositions aim to deconstruct the layers of political deceit, exposing latent hypocrisies and challenging the integrity of a system that is supposed to be a model of democracy and social progress. Although most political of her work yet, it aligns with the theme she continues to revisit in her art, one of disillusionment.
Notable exhibitions.
Solo and group exhibitions.
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2010
2005
2004
2003
2001
Personal life.
Goldstein lives in East Vancouver with her filmmaker husband, Jonas Quastel. She has two daughters, Jordan and Zoe.