Female liberation, a theme explored in ancient mythology, color, and form in this two person show at Lyles & King. The paintings on the wall are not separated by painter, instead they alternate one by Meissner and one by Parra. As the audience walks around the gallery, the constant change of subject matter offers a contrast of ideas, a bowl of fleshy fruit submerged in milk and the next a headless, nude woman. These ideas are the choice to present one’s own sexual identity as they please. The room is large, featuring bright, white walls that make the vivid colors stand out even further.
Additionally, the works feature an array of bright pinks and greens as well as muted reds. Meissner focuses on the nude, female body and abstracts the surroundings, while Parra finds inspiration through feminine Greek and Latin deities which causes her to paint fruits submerged in milk. Both artists explore the idea of eroticism and its ability to liberate women through this subject matter.
Finally, as the title of the show suggests, the tableaux (an array of motionless bodies representing a scene from a story) is meant to portray a narrative, this being how a pose or a chosen still life can represent choice. Fleshy fruits that are culturally associated with sex relate to the subject of ancient deities and the headless bodies of the women represent anonymity of self-expression and choice. The anonymity of the figures represents all women and the eroticism of the fruit represents desire. This show is greatly successful in representing the importance of choice and how it interacts with liberation. WC 267
This is a great review in the sense of clearly visualizing the exhibition and the gallery space. I also really appreciate your descriptions of the individual works and how the artist's ideas melded together. The only thing I would change with your review is perhaps removing some of the neutral tone in place of either a positive or negative one so that your position on the execution of the space is a little clearer. Again while the description is clear in the space itself and the meaning of the space, your actual opinion seems to be missing. Besides that small bump, overall great review!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy how you pose questions to the reader to further consider the gravity of the subject that the show attempts to explore. This was a sophisticated analysis of each of the artists’ work - which I appreciate since I didn’t get much time with this show. I would suggest rethinking the first sentence as it gets lost after you pose the question immediately after and I would also like to see more analysis on how the two artists’ work collaborate with each other in the shared space. Overall, I really enjoyed your writing and it piqued my interest in this show further.
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