Exhibition
in New York, NY / United States
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- Martha Wilson: Bear in mind/Bare in hind, 2014, photos and makeup by Bill Westmoreland, 48 x 96 inches
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- Martha Wilson: Mona/Marcel/Marge, 2014, compositing artist, Kathy Grove, lenticular photograph, 20 x 12 inches
P.P.O.W is pleased to present an exhibition of new works by Martha Wilson. Since the early 1970s, Wilson has created conceptually based performances, videos, and photo/text compositions that grapple with constructions and manifestations of feminism, identity, and the way we construct and present ourselves. Frequently taking herself as subject, Wilson creates transgressive, avant-garde works that address political and social issues, teasing out complexity and nuance by infusing her work with playful gestures and humorous juxtapositions.
“Mona/Marcel/Marge” will feature new photo/text works that draw on self-portraiture, art history, political figures, and popular culture to comment on subjectivity, identity, and gender. While this new body of work draws a clear line to her work from the 70’s through today, her work and attitude has evolved from what Wilson describes as “the concerns of a young woman to having fun with being an old lady,” and sees her turning an eye to the way in which the public gaze projects social values onto women as they grow older. “I’m looking at age and the status of women,” Wilson says, “but we are still in the same absurd state that we were in in the 70s… This is my current response to the predicament that we find ourselves in when born female.”
With this body of work Wilson depicts herself in the role of subjects as diverse as famous women throughout history like Tipper Gore and Michelle Obama, a panda bear, and a Mona Lisa/Marge Simpson mash-up. The vast majority of her works include text placed alongside or overlaid upon her photographs – a direct expression of the inner landscape she is trying to craft and a comment on the experiment that she is enacting.
Martha Wilson (b. Philadelphia, PA) lives and works in New York. Written into and out of art history according to the theories and convictions of the time, Wilson first gained notoriety thanks to the attention of curator Lucy R. Lippard, who placed Wilson’s early efforts within the context of conceptual art and the work of women artists.
Gallery hours Tues-Sat 10 am – 6 pm
Location:
P·P·O·W
535 West 22nd Street, 3rd Floor
10011 New York, NY
United States
