Community: feminist.bloggers@brooklynmuseum

Erika Rothenberg has a solo exhibition opening on Friday, September 5th at the Zolla/Lieberman Gallery in Chicago. Rothenberg uses humor in her artwork to get her political views across, sometimes photographing existing historical markers selected for their oddly inhumane inscriptions. This exhibition will be on view until October 11th.

(Erika Rothenberg, Los Alamos, 2005. Courtesy of the Artist.)

Swoon’s solo exhibition, Swimming Cities of the Switchback Sea, will be opening at Deitch Projects in Long Island City this Sunday, September 7th. In conjunction with the exhibition, swoon will be docking of a fleet of handmade sculptural ships at the waterfront adjacent to Deitch Projects, which will mark the exhibition’s opening in the early evening on the 7th. The opening will mark the end of the ships’ journey down the Hudson River from Troy, New York, where they were launched earlier this month.

(A collaborative exhibition by SWOON, Allison Corrie and Solovei, La Boca Del Lobo, installation at Blackfloor Gallery, Philadelphia Pennsylvania, 2006. Photo by Tod Seelie, courtesy of Deitch Projects.)

SOHO20 Gallery is opening a group exhibition this Thursday, September 4th. Six Chix will include artists Patricia Berube, Elizabeth Bisbing, Darla Bjork, Lucy Hodgson, Nelleke Nix and Madelaine Shellaby who explore the use of organic structures and female archetypes in this all woman show.

(Nelleke Nix, detail of Hair Wire installation, assembled 200. Mixed media: watercolor and stain on paper. 9 x 12 inches. Courtesy of SOHO20 Gallery.)

Artist Berni Searle, who’s work graced both Global Feminisms and Global Feminisms Remix here at the Center, has a solo exhibition opening at Michael Stevenson Gallery on September 4th. Bearni Searle, Recent Work will be up until the 11th of October and features three new videos shot in South Africa, Norway, and the Canary Islands.

(Berni Searle, Still from Alibama, 2008. Courtesy of Michael Stevenson Gallery.)

Hailing from Sweden, Annika Larsson is one of her home country’s most noteworthy artists. Using video to investigate the gaze and control in her work, Larsson’s most recent video, DOLLS continues along this same theme. DOLLS, currently on view at Andréhn-Schiptjenko Gallery in Stockholm, will be up until September 21st.

(Annika Larsson, Still from DOLLS, 2008. Courtesy of Andréhn-Schiptjenko Gallery.)

Heart Wall, by feminist artist Nancy Azara is in its final months! This 24ft sculpture installation can be viewed in the lobby at 340 Madison Avenue through October.

(Heart Wall, (6ft x 24ft x 3ft) carved and painted wood with gold and aluminum leaf and encaustic. Courtesy of the artist.)

Opening this past weekend and running through the 27th of September, Everywhere is War (and rumours of war) is a group show including artist Sara Rahbar, who spoke here at the museum earlier this summer with the South Asian Women’s Creative Collective. This exhibition will be held at Bodhi Art in Kalaghoda, Mumbai, and should be a great opportunity to see this amazing photographer and textile artist’s work.

(Sara Rahbar, Flag#30, 64×34, 2008. Courtesy of the artist.)

Patty Chang, a daring video artist who resides here in Brooklyn, is showing her most recent work at the Arrow Factory in Beijing. Chang’s body of work spans the last decade. Both Eels, 2001, a performance video in which Chang traps an eel inside her blouse, and In Love, 2001, in which Chang passes onions from her mouth into the mouths of her parents, remain vivid in this blogger’s mind (and, Losing Ground, 2000 is favorite of Sarah’s!) Touch Would will be available for viewing by the public at the Arrow Factory until the 29th of September.

(Touch Would exhibition announcement. Courtesy of The Arrow Factory.)

Allyson Mitchell is participating in a show at the Textile Museum of Canada in Toronto. The exhibition, Close to You, which runs through October 12th, takes a closer look at contemporary social and sexual customs via pop culture and through the mediums of knitting, crochet, embroidery and appliqué.

(Allyson Mitchell. Big Trubs, 2004. Courtesy of the artist.)

Printmaker and installation artist, swoon, has taken her work to the Hudson River this month with her most recent project Swimming Cities of the Switchback Sea. This performance/conceptual/just-plain-rad project consists of an armada of eco-friendly ships made from recycled materials which will make their way down the Hudson from Troy, NY, where they launched earlier this month. The fleet will be docking at Beacon, Croton-on-Hudson, and Nyack next week for music and performances before they reach their final destination at Deitch Projects in Long Island City, Queens on September 7th for the opening of swoon’s latest installation.

(Portion of Swimming Cities of the Switchback Sea exhibition poster. Courtesy Deitch Projects.)

Sabina Baumann’s death of cool opens at Galerie Mark Muller in Zurich next Thursday, the 28th of August. This show runs until September 27th, so stop on over if you happen to be in the area!

(Sabina Baumann, aus der lumpenserie, 2007. Pencil on paper, 60 x 40 cm. Courtesy of Galerie Mark Muller.)

The Percipient Eye, opened last Friday, August 22nd at The Gallery at Mansion in Manhattan, and features photography by Jennifer Maeve. This exhibition was curated by a former graduate intern here at the Center, Saisha Grayson. Good luck with the show and congrats Saisha!

(The Percipient Eye exhibition announcement. Courtesy of Saisha Grayson.)

Tracey Moffatt’s exhibition, First Jobs Series 2008 opens Thursday, August 21st at the Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery in Sydney and will be up until September 3rd. If you’re in the neighborhood, you really shouldn’t miss this amazing photographer/video artist’s work!

(Tracey Moffatt, First Jobs, Fruit Market, 1975, 2008. Archival pigments on rice paper with gel medium. Image from First Jobs Series 2008 exhibition announcement.)

Global Feminisms artist Shahzia Sikander’s first major solo exhibition in the U.K. is on view now at the Ikon Gallery in Birmingham. Intimate Ambivalence features this incredible artist’s recent paintings, a wall drawing installed in Ikon, and a series of graphite portraits done over the last couple of years titled Monks and Novices.

(Shahzia Sikander, Monks and Novices Series - Novice Chandon, 2006-08. Graphite on paper 14 x 11 inches. Courtesy of Sikkema Jenkins & Co.)

in your face, a group exhibition that investigates portraiture and representation of the figure, will be on view at Tria Gallery from August 19 – 23. Curated by Nikki Cohen, the show features the work of emerging artists Ben Aqua and Mike Ruiz (the collaborative team OK!Fresh), Elizabeth Dyer, Mary Lydecker, and Megan Cedro. The opening reception for the exhibition will be on Tuesday, August 19, from 6-8pm. Stop by and check out innovative work by these exciting up-and-comers!

(Ok! Fresh, photograph from in your face. Courtesy of Nikki Cohen Enterprise.)

April Vollmer’s Doing What Comes Naturally opened this month at The Sirens’ Song Gallery in Greenport, NY, and runs until September 2nd. Continuing an age old medium, Vollmer uses woodcut to explore the stereotypically feminine medium of floral design.

(April Vollmer, Rococo Puff, 2007. Hanga Woodcut. Courtesy of the artist.)

Karen Finley’s Impulse to Suck: The Performance of the Apology and the Separation of Sex and State, happens tomorrow night, the 14th of August at Performance Space 122 in Manhattan. In addition to performing her latest piece, Karen Finley with discuss aspects of Eliot Spitzer’s televised apology that followed the discovery of his criminal activities. Make sure to check out Performance Space 122’s website for advance tickets to this one night only event!

(Artwork by Karen Finley. Courtesy of Performance Space 122.)

Mother’s!!!, a solo exhibition by Lin Tianmiao just opened at Long March Project’s Gallery Space C in China. Tianmiao was also featured in our Global Feminisms show last year. As the exhibition title suggests, the theme of the show revolves around a mother’s role and all of the emotions-both positive and negative- that come with it. This exhibition runs until August 24th.

(Lin Tianmiao, Mothers!!! No. 5, 2008. Courtesy of Long March Project.)

Woman Made Gallery in Chicago is opening Her Mark 2009, an exhibition celebrating the publication of the gallery’s annual art and literary journal. The reception is this Friday, August 1st, and the show will be up until August 28th.

(Elizabeth Bruno, The Illusion of Control, oil on canvas, 24 x 24 inches. Courtesy of Woman Made Gallery.)

Will Happiness Find Me, at the Marvelli Gallery ends this Thursday, August 8th. This exhibition features artists Daphne Arthur, Mary Reid Kelley, Jason Ledet, and Juliana Romano and includes a video by Kelley about an aviator(played by the artist) and his lover, a ballerina named Camel Toe, who leaves him for her vibrator.

(Mary Reid Kelley, Camel Toe, 2008. Video, 1 minute 25 seconds, Edition of 8. Courtesy of the Marvelli Gallery.)

Sexy Time: A Group Effort closes today at the Morgan Lehman Gallery. From the work of Susan Anderson, which explores the world of the young girl’s beauty pageant, to Chrissy Conant’s Chrissy Skin Rug, this show approaches the issues of sex and gender from a variety of innovative angles. If you have time today or after work tonight, stop on by!

(Chrissy Conant, Chrissy Skin Rug, 84 x 60 in. Silicone rubber, human hair, glass eyes, wood. Courtesy of Morgan Lehman Gallery.)

If Loved Could Have Saved You, You Would Have Lived Forever closes next week at Bellwether gallery. This group show investigates loss and memory and includes the work of Tammy Rae Carland and Patricia Cronin.

(Tammy Rae Carland, My Inheritance, 60 x 40 inches, Digital C-print, 2008. Courtesy of Bellwether Gallery.)

One of my fellow interns here at the museum discovered some really neat hand-stenciled shirts featuring feminist women throughout history the other day. Here’s what Lindsay Keating-Moore, creator of KMStitchery has to say about her artistry, “My rebellious spirit saw injustice and it prompted me to address it and attack it in a healthy way. I think it’s important to recognize, acknowledge and admire women who have fought for women’s rights and who have broken through gender barriers. And clothing is a great way to spread the message of feminism.” The selection ranges from Frida Kahlo to Emma Goldman and almost every woman worthy of note in between. Keep it up Lindsay!

(Susan B. Anthony Hand Stenciled Shirt, by KMStitchery. Courtesy of the Artist.)

Camouflage opens this Friday at Amos Eno Gallery in Manhattan. This solo exhibition features artist Wei-Hui Hsu’s series of the same name. Using cosmetic facial masks to construct sculptural bodices and high heeled shoes, Wei-Hui Hsu interacts with her creations to create a voyeuristic atmosphere in her photographs.

(Wei-Hui Hsu, Photographic print from the Camoflage Series, 2007, Installation with facial masks, fabric stiffener, performance, toy guns, spray paint, army uniform. Courtesy of the artist.)

SOHO20 Chelsea Gallery just opened its 14th Annual International Exhibition last week which includes a solo show in their second gallery with artist Jong Sun Lee. Lee explores gender and power relations in her work through the use of unusual materials like human hair. When we emailed SOHO20 Chelsea’s director, Jenn Dierdorf, this morning, she mentioned that Lee “is currently preparing for a trip to Guatemala, where she will finance and work to build bathrooms for a community in return for their collaborative effort on an art project.”

(Jong Sun Lee, Yes You Are II, included in the 14th Annual International Exhibition. Courtesy of SOGO20 Chelsea Gallery)

2b female:perceptions of femininity opened last week at the Pendleton Art Gallery in Newport, Kentucky. Artist Pattie Byron combines female symbols with gender stereotypes to create her sculptures. The show runs through August 18^th, so if you’re in the area, check it out!

(Pattie Byron, Habitual Femininity, painted metal, polished metal and yarn. Included in the 2b female: perceptions of femininity exhibition, 2008. Courtesy of the artist.)

Yayoi Kusama currently has a solo exhibition up at Ota Fine Arts in Tokyo. On view until August 22nd, this artist’s unique vision is not to be missed!

(Yayoi Kusama, Original Infinity Nets, 1999. Acrylic on canvas, 194 x 391 cm. Courtesy Ota Fine Arts.)

Using familiar objects in unfamiliar ways, artist Heidi Forssell includes everything from a toothy teddy bear to a deep fried ball gown to get her message across. Her MFA graduate exhibition, The Right Kind of Girl: Video, Sculpture and Drawings about Female Identity and Experience, just opened last Saturday at the Arts and Consiousness Gallery of JFKU Berkeley and runs until August 2nd.

(Heidi Forssell, Image from exhibition announcement for The Right Kind of Girl.)

The National Museum of Women in the Arts is currently showing Modern Love: Gifts to the Collection from Heather and Tony Podesta. This group show will be up until September 21st, so if you are in the D.C. area anytime soon, feel free to take a gander!

(Icelandic Love Corporation, Where Do We Go From Here?, 2001. Diasec lazerchrome print, 27 3/4 x 27 1/2 in. Courtesy of the National Museum of Women in the Arts.)

In part an exploration of the hybridization of female identity in a global culture, Neti Neti (not this, not this) opened last week at Bosa Pacia and features artists Michael Bühler-Rose and Sheba Chhachhi among others. Don’t miss out on this exhibition, on view until August 16th.

(Michael Bühler-Rose, The Secret, Alachua, FL. 2006)

May Stevens: Paintings and Works on Paper 1968-1976 opened last Thursday at the Mary Ryan Gallery and includes works from Louise Bourgeois and Kiki Smith. The work by May Stevens focuses mainly on her “Big Daddy” character who symbolizes her view of the archetypal middle-American man.

(Louise Bourgeois, The Night, 2001, lithograph, 20 x 16 inches, edition of 50. Courtesy of Mary Ryan Gallery.)

Rendering their own interpretations of goddess and female myths throughout time, a collection of women artists around the globe participate in …All About Eve, open until August 3rd at Siren Song Gallery in Greenport, NY.

(Kathleen Bifulco, Barbie Bustin’ Out, charcoal, pastel and pencil on paper, 31 x 24 inches. Courtesy Gallery Merz.)

Stories We Tell Ourselves, an all women show that explores the narrative in art opened July 10th at the Rhonda Schaller Studio in Chelsea. This show includes a work by Maureen Kelleher, who was inspired to become an artist after refusing to evacuate during Hurricane Katrina.

(Maureen Kelleher, I’m Gonna Try, H. Tubman, 2003. Paint, paper, cloth and engraving on wood, 46 in. x 30 in. Courtesy of the artist)

Investigating the link between clothing and identity, the Kniznick Gallery of Brandeis University presents Dress Redress, opening this week and running through September 25th. Artists represented in this exhibition include Aparna Agrawal, Candice Smith Corby, Maryjean Viano Crowe, Carol Hamoy, Sandra Eula Lee, Esther Solondz, Andrew Thompson, and Leslie Wilcox.

(Sandra Eula Lee, Clothing Inventory – under 2” tall, 2006. Courtesy Kniznick Gallery.)

History Keeps Me Awake at Night: A Genealogy of Wojnarowicz opened last Thursday at the PPOW Gallery. This exhibition features the work of artists influenced by David Wojnarowicz, activist for queer rights and against AIDS discrimination in the 1980’s.

(Carrie Mae Weems, Untitled from The Hampton Project, 2000. Inkjet print on canvas, edition of 5, 61 x 69 inches. Courtesy of PPOW.)

Flesh, Akino Kondoh’s second solo exhibition at Tokyo’s Mizuma Art Gallery opened last week. This time around, Kondoh is showing her oil paintings, which examine the potential crossover between the human body and plant life, rather than the animations, which made up her previous exhibition at this venue. The show will be up until August 9th. If you’re in the area, this one is definitely worth checking out!

(Akino Kondoh, Flesh (work in progress), 2008. Oil on canvas 112×162cm. Photo by Kei Miyajima, courtesy of Mizuma Art Gallery)

(Film Still from Moolaadé (2004), directed by Ousmane Sembène.)

This month’s Target First Saturday events at the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art here at the Brooklyn Museum includes a screening of the film Moolaadé. Directed by Ousmane Sembène, this award winning film tells the tale of six young girls who are about to be circumcised and the subsequent attempts to protect the girls from this trauma. “Moolaadé” is the name for the magical protection one of the village women uses on the girls to prevent their imminent circumcisions.

The showing of the film begins at 6pm and is followed by a discussion with Dr. Natasha Gordon-Chipembere, who has worked extensively with, and as an advocate for, circumcised women. If you can’t make it at six for the film, stroll on over to the galleries to see Ladan Akbarnia, Hagop Kevorkian Associate Curator of Islamic Art here at the Brooklyn Museum, give a talk on Ghada Amer: Love Has No End at 7pm. Free tickets for both of these events are available at the Visitor’s Center at 5pm!

(Film Still from Moolaadé (2004), directed by Ousmane Sembène.)

This Friday, The Women’s Museum in Denmark opens 64-Occupations and Collections featuring Kirsten Justesen in an historical exhibitition about the daughters of war and a look at anti-authoritarian feminism.

(announcement for 64 – Occupations and Collections. Courtesy: Kvindemuseet.)

Also on Friday, Melanie Herzog, art historian and director of Women’s and Gender Studies at Edgewood College will be speaking at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art in Wisconsin. Herzog will discuss MMoCA’s current exhibition, Girls and Company: Feminist Works from MMoCA’s Permanent Collection, on view through July 20th.

(Frances Myers, The Martyrdom, from the portfolio Point of Departure, 1984. Linoleum cut on paper, 20 x 15 inches. Courtesy of the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art.)

Curated by Joanne Hinkel, LADYLIKE: A proper take on feminist art, just opened at Chicago’s Koscielak Gallery. Featuring a group of ten feminist artists using everything from fiber to video, this exhibition runs through July 30, 2008.

(Jessica Hannah, Red Phone Showroom No.6, 2007, A photo still of a performance within a mixed-media installation from the Columbia College Chicago MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts Show. Courtesy of Koscielak Gallery.)

Gender This, a current exhibition at the Andrea Meislin Gallery features artist Shelley Adler. Through the medium of portraiture, Adler focuses on the female gaze and the journey through adolescence in her exploration of gender identity. Don’t miss this artist’s first solo exhibition in New York, closing June 21, 2008.

(Shelley Adler, Party Girl, 2008, Oil on canvas, 96 x 72 inches. Courtesy of the Andrea Meislin Gallery.)

The Frida Kahlo retrospective continues its tour this month at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. This legendary artist had the guts to embark on a career in easel painting at a time in Mexico when macho muralists reined supreme, which perhaps makes her struggles with illness and the drama of her personal life secondary to the impact of her work. This retrospective is definitely worth checking out for feminists and Kahlo fans alike, and will be up through September 28, 2008.

(Frida Kahlo, Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird (Autorretrato con collar de espinas y colibrí), 1940. Courtesy of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.)

Closing on June 27, 2008, everydaypeople explores issues of sex and gender in everyday life. Check this exhibition out at Chicago’s estudiotres!

(Doug Ischar, Untitled, Belmont Rocks, Chicago, 1984. Digital Archival Print - 36″ x 24″. Courtesy: estudiotres.)

Photographer, video artist, and associate professor at the California College of the Arts, Tammy Rae Carland is also the author of such titles as Lesbian Art in America and The Passionate Camera; Queer Bodies of Desire. This internationally known feminist artist’s solo exhibition, An Archive of Feelings, is opening June 20th at the Silverman Gallery in San Francisco.

(Tammy Rae Carland, Untitled, Lesbian Bed #1. Courtesy of the artist.)

Last but not least, Susan Hefuna’s exhibition Knowledge is Sweeter than Honey opened yesterday in conjunction with Vito Acconci’s solo exhibition at Albion Gallery’s SoHo location, 102 Prince St, 4th Floor, btw Greene and Mercer.

(Susan Hefuna. Woman behind Mashrabiya I, 1997. Courtesy of the artist.)

A viewing and discussion of the film Suffragettes in Silent Cinema will be taking place this Saturday, June 21st, in the Forum of the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art. The panel will include Melissa Messina, curator of Votes for Women, writer and television producer Coline Jenkins, and the creator of the film, Dr. Kay Sloan. Premiered in 2003, Suffragettes in Silent Cinema includes propagandizing clips from silent films showing women engaging in extreme activities such as abandoning their babies and stealing bicycles in their pursuit of suffrage. This feminist, for one, cannot wait to see the fear of women’s empowerment so outrageously portrayed in these early films!

(Close up of Suffragettes riding float…New York Fair, Yonkers, 10 August 1913. Courtesy of the Library of Congress)

(Sara Rahbar, Hosein and I, Oppression Series #2 photo shoot, 2007. Courtesy of the artist.)

Working to further the dialogue between women and contemporary art, the South Asian Women’s Creative Collective is an organization that seeks to unite and provide resources for female artists of South Asian descent, bringing a crucial perspective to the forefront of the global feminist art world. This weekend, board members Mareena Dareida and Sadia Rehman, along with artists Sara Rahbar, Samira Abbassy, and poet Sarah Husain will participate in a panel discussion moderated by artist Miriam Ghani here at the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art during the Brooklyn Museum’s Target First Saturday events. The panel will provide a taste of these artists work as well as spoken word in this precursor to the collective’s 11th annual visual arts show, Rods and Cones: Seeing From the Back of One’s Head, at the Abrons Art Center, Henry Street Settlement this August.  Featuring artwork by Samira Abbassy, Samanta Batra Mehta, Anna Bhushan, Ruby Chishti, Smruthi Gargi Eswar, Mona Kamal, Baseera Khan, Pallavi Sharma, Sheena Sood, this exhibition should definitely be worth checking out!

(Shamira Abbassy, Calligraphic self-portrait, 2006. Courtesy of England Gallery)