Community: feminist.bloggers@brooklynmuseum

Opening…

Helen’s Odyssey, another signature photo series of classical-yet-contemporary pastiche by feminist artist Eleanor Antin, opens February 15th at Ronald Feldman Fine Arts. Antin, “determined to present women without pathos or helplessness” in her work (as she writes in her Feminist Artist Statement), here reaches back into the annals of ancient Greek history to give Helen of Troy her due subjectivity, agency, and r-e-s-p-e-c-t. Antin is also included in the Wack! exhibition opening at P.S.1 (see below!)

(Eleanor Antin, The Tourists, 2007, c-print. Courtesy: Ronald Feldman Fine Arts.)

An extensive retrospective of the artist-duo Gilbert & George opens February 16th at San Francisco’s de Young Museum. Throughout their practice together, Gilbert and George have sought to erase the boundaries between art and life, using their own images and experiences as source material, and, in accordance with their “Art for All” attitude, to relate to audiences beyond the confines of the art world. The work of Gilbert and George integrates concepts and practices often found in explicitly feminist work such as the engagement with performance and the inevitable balance between artistic subjectivity and objectivity problematized by using their own bodies in their work.

(Gilbert & George, England, 1980, © Gilbert & George. Courtesy: de Young and Tate Modern.)

We’re especially excited to announce the opening of WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution at P.S.1 MoMA on February 17th. This comprehensive historical survey of feminist and feminist-inspired works, dating from 1965 through 1980, includes 120 international artists and artist-groups. In a genre that often eludes strict definition, Wack! invites valuable insight into both the common themes and the individual concerns of founding feminist artists. P.S.1 is also hosting a fabulous series of performances and related events through March.

(Magdalena Abakanowicz, Abakan Red, 1969. Courtesy: National Museum in Wroclaw and MIT News.)

Now Open…

Side Effects, new work by artists Elmgreen & Dragset, the pair who brilliantly conceived of and created Prada Marfa, remains on display at Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin of Paris through March 8th. Side Effects, which opened in conjunction with Paris Men’s Fall-Winter 08-09 fashion shows, dresses abstract, yet undeniably anthropomorphic, sculptures in the latest designs. The inanimate works, thus strangely imbued with gender and social status, become bizarre occupants of the gallery space which require the viewer to consider the institutional context.

(Elmgreen & Dragset, installation view of Side Effects, 2008. Courtesy: Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin.)

Boys Are Us, an overview of Maria Friberg’s photo and video work made throughout the past decade, invites a more general interpretation of the artist’s practical concerns. While Friberg often deconstructs traditional symbols of masculinity, such as the suit and tie, this exhibition more broadly conveys the chilling sense of alienation her subjects express. Whether alone or with others, her characters are isolated and divorced from any recognizable time or place. The show is now open at Kulturhuset, in Stockholm, through April 13th.

(Maria Friberg, one of the series Still Lives 2003-2007. Courtesy: Maria Friberg/mariafriberg.com.)