Bitter Fruits

To see how women, or at least the concept of femininity, has inspired artists throughout the years, one simply needs to peruse the art history section of Barnes & Noble. Women have been muses and objects of scorn, idealized and torn down. Images of women in artwork, as well as our interpretations and reactions to that artwork, can tell us many things about our society, history, and the masculine gaze. Taking this shared history into account, "Bitter Fruits" features work that explores these artistic boundaries. The group show features works by 80 artists, both male and female, including paintings, sculpture, photography, and performance art. Some are playful, and a little mocking, like Courtney Conk's An Invitation to a Tea Party; a woman is photographed drinking tea while sitting next to a plastic kitchenette (the type little girls play house with). Michelle Brusegaard's oil and marker works on canvas pay homage to Fashion Plates, a children's toy from the 1980s that features interchangeable clothing plates used to create rubbings to be colored in. Her images are brightly colored, faceless outlines wearing clothes that have been colored to match the blue floral background wallpaper. Martyna Matusiak's unsettling photography features women shoved into kitchen sinks, cabinets, and drawers, their empty eyes and haphazard limbs thrown casually about like dead bodies. Well, if we're going to be gazed upon, we might as well be thought-provoking. Opening reception 7:00 p.m. Friday, February 1.
Jan. 31-Feb. 28, 2008