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Jezebel

March 23, 2007- April 14, 2007

Reception: March 22, 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Carla Gannis

Claire Oliver

513 W 26th St

Carla Gannis' Jezebels rail at the mythology, history and stereotypes that have shaped and defined femininity within our collective unconsciousness for many generations. This archetype is not a single woman but a compilation of multidimensional characters playing in turn the non-conformist, social beauty, revolutionary, wanton sex goddess, victim and superhero. Using appropriated iconography from classic film noir, pivotal events in Feminist history, surrealist dreams and pop culture as vehicles for her nonlinear narratives, Gannis weaves the past, present and future in each of these large scale new media works of art.

The Artist's method of working pushes forward what has been recently termed "digital painting", refining and personalizing the process to make it uniquely her own. Gannis begins with a story board for each work, creating a concept which weaves together references from cinematic, literary, and art historical interpretations of “the wanton woman”, and then recontextualizes them into a new tableaux in which her characters convey strength, intelligence, beauty and complexity. Next she shoots photographs that will be used as the "stage" for the character, which she then collages with appropriated film stills in Photoshop. Finally, the Artist goes over every centimeter of these newly combined images with many layers of digital painting, creating a truly unique visual language.

Gannis exhibition "Jezebel" features six large scale digital prints, each with a coinciding predella. Created in the 14th century to illustrate the life of a saint, these horizontal panels were originally attached to the lower edge of an altarpiece as a narrative for the larger panel above them. Gannis adopted this vehicle to give context to Jezebel's historic and cultural currency, updating them to resemble a film strip which hangs below each major panel. Her subject is always dressed in red, not only as a signifier of lust and sexuality but as an expression of revolution, anger and courage.

"The agenda of a woman making art today should be as complex and mysterious as the work itself," says Gannis. "Jezebel is a person conflicted and flawed yet forward thinking and courageous. Although I feel there is a feminist bent to this body of work, my hope is that it rises above any kind of ‘exclusive’ interpretation and takes into account a love for cinema and fascination with the history of narrative form and its new possibilities as expressed through my digital media collage."

Books and DVDs related to artists in this show

Location map  Gallery Claire Oliver Address 513 W 26th St New York (Chelsea) NY, 10001 United States Phone 212-929-5949 Hours Tue-Sat 10-6

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