sex: a woman’s perspective

This summer I received an invitation from Beatrice Moore:

I am organizing an exhibit of all woman artists for September at Frontal Lobe Community Space and Gallery, in the Bragg’s Pie Factory building and I wanted to invite you to participate.

“Sex: A Woman’s Perspective” is intended to be interpreted in any way the artist likes. I’ve intentionally left off any descriptors so as not to influence the interpretation someone decides to make. This exhibit is one of several that will emphasize the work of Valley women artists. 

I didn’t wait too long to reply, especially after going through the list of invited artists – most of whom have been actively working in various mediums in the Phoenix and Valley art scene for many years.

Beatrice notes: the exhibit is comprised of women artists who I feel can interestingly, and provocatively, engage the public in a spoken, visual, and tactile dialogue about the many meanings and various interpretations of ‘sex’.

Artists include: Babs A’Delic, Melinda Bergman, Sue Chenoweth, Susan Copeland, Mona Higuchi, Dena Johnson, Carolyn Lavender, Annie Lopez, Carrie Marill, Monica Aissa Martinez, Lara Plecas, Christy Puetz, Irma Sanchez, Heather Smith-Gearns, Karolina Sussland, Jen Urso, Yuko Yabuki, and Denise Yaghmourian; with a special body painting project by Gingher Leyendecker.

Below are a few examples of works – you only see a part of the art or ‘in progress’ shot. You’ll want to  go see the show in person – for the complete experience.
(Some photos offer artist website link.)

Carrie Marill
Quiet Conditions  – detail
gouache on paper
14″x40″ 
2009

Irma Sanchez
Flesh – detail      
2′ x 2′ 
#4 of Sugar Panel Series.
Royal Cream Icing, (artists own recipe) applied to untreated wood, gel food color additive, gouche and silver aerosol.
2013
– Experimental

Christy Puetz
Karla – detail
glass beads, cloth, mixed media
2013

Karolina Sussland
Digital Print – in process
2013

Annie Lopez
Area of Concern – detail
dress made of cyanotype prints on tamale wrapper paper
2013

Yuko Yabuki
Oracle – in progress
acrylic on wood
18″x24″
2013

Sue Chenoweth
The Ghosts of Christmas Past – detail
acrylic, wood and mylar on panel
24 x 18″
2013

Denise Yaghmourian
I Love My Bicycle Face – detail
Performance
2013

Denise Yaghmourian
Succulent – detail
Mixed Media
2013

Yuko Yabuki
Oracle – in progress
acrylic on wood
18″x24″
2013

Monica Aissa Martinez
I don’t think it needs a title – detail
Casein on Canvas
18″ x 35″
2013

WHO: Frontal Lobe Community Space and Gallery
WHAT: Sex: A Woman’s Perspective – Curated by Beatrice Moore
WHERE: Frontal Lobe Community Space and Gallery
in Bragg’s Pie Factory,
1301 Grand, Phoenix, AZ
WHEN: September 6 at 6:00pm until September 21 at 4:00pm
Opening Reception: 6-10pm, September 6, 2013
Closing Reception: 6-10pm, September 20, 2013
Special → Artlink Collectors Tour, September 21, 1-4

The exhibit will also be open Saturday September 21st from 1-4pm.
and by appt. : contact Beatrice Moore at 602.391.4016 or email her for more info.

Click here to → rsvp on Facebook

about the space:
The Frontal Lobe Community Space and Gallery is a relatively new space on Grand Avenue in the historic Bragg’s Pie Factory building. The goal of the space is to showcase both established and lesser known artists, and create a place where fine art and community endeavors co-exist, and at times, overlap. The space is intended to be utilized as a community space as much as a gallery, and provides a venue where non-commercial work is encouraged and embraced. Film, performance, music, exhibits, historical explorations, science, and a host of other topics and various mediums are encouraged as part of an eclectic mix and a variety of approaches.

a new work

The human body is the primary subject of Monica Aissa Martinez’ small painting. She portrays our bodies as fantastic little factories, maybe tiny sex breweries, in a series of works about brides and grooms.
… Martinez says the experience of her recent marriage prompted her to explore the topic of who and what we are in a male/female union. Fascinated by the look of scientific detail in botanical and biological drawings, Martinez treats the figure to a revamping that includes ribbons and champagne glasses. The bodies take on the form of laboratory glasswork. The details in her work hold our attention long enough for us to realize the sly humor of lifting the lid off the marital sacrament to reveal the delightfully intricate plumbing that makes the whole process pump.

Linda A. McAllister
Senior Curator, Here and Now: Arizona Contemporary Artists, Part 1
ASU, Nelson Fine Arts Center, 1996

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Linda McAllister wrote these words over 15 years ago about a series of small works based on brides and grooms. When people tell me my work has changed, I don’t agree completely. My work still focuses on relationship, if not male/female then masculine/feminine. I still use the body as container and I highlight the organs, I work with the idea of transparency,  and all these years later still use the same batch of pigment and enjoy making and using egg tempera.

The Bride and Groom
Egg Tempera on Paper
16″ x 11″
1996

Below are a two more examples of the way I’ve represented relationship and the play of masculine and feminine, or male and female.

Conductivity
Egg Tempera on Canvas
12″ x12″
2207-08

Kinectic
Egg Tempera on Canvas
12″ x12″
2207-08

Right now I’ve put aside what I was working on to work a new painting for an invitational. The theme – Sex, a woman’s point of view. The show runs in September. I began working on this painting right after agreeing to take part – just so I wouldn’t over think things. I got a visual while reading the invite and went with it.

Detail
Casein on canvas

This painting is casein on canvas and today I paint until I tire and can’t control line work anymore. I have a few decisions to make. I’ll just leave it alone until I resolve some composition and then continue.

New work as yet untitled but still part of the  Nothing In Stasis series.
Casein on canvas

I photograph at various stages so I can produce a short video.

– I’ll tell you more about the exhibit in time. The group of artists is exciting.