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February 24, 2007- March 24, 2007
Reception: February 24, 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Lauren Beck
Newman Popiashvili Gallery
504 W 22nd StNewman Popiashvili Gallery is pleased to present Miasma from the Well of Loneliness, the first solo exhibition of Lauren Beck at the gallery. The title is a reference to the 1928 lesbian novel by Radclyffe Hall entitled The Well of Loneliness. Despite the novel's tone of exploitation it has come to be seen as a proto-feminist work with its uncommonly early depiction of a strong, autonomous female protagonist. The Well of Loneliness was banned on charges of obscenity although its sole sex scene consists of the words “and that night they were not divided.” Lauren Beck’s works on paper evoke similar dualistic reactions as the novel did back in the day: it can be seen both as proto-feminist or self-loathing and inspiring shame.
Lauren Beck's works evince a similar ambiguity in relationship to both classical and contemporary feminist modes and beliefs, displaying simultaneous attraction to their ideas and repulsion to their idealism. The iconography in the drawings is taken from seemingly divergent sources and brought together to cacophonous effect. For instance, in Eternal Circle (When Giant Elephants Walked the Corridors of Time), models taken from 70's S & M magazines and Mandalas reminiscent of mid-60's spiritualism are presented in a witchy assembly whose purpose remains obscure. In Under The Pyramids, meticulously rendered mummies come together in a cheerful setting resembling some sort of post-mortem picnic. The figures appear as literal examples of bodily decay, completely oblivious to the inherent pathos of their situation.
Lauren BeckBeck refers to feminist theorist Julia Kristeva and specifically her theory of abjection and the womb when she tries to explain the appearance of mummy imagery in her larger works. They appear as literal examples of bodily decay, and thus abjection. The paintings with mummies carry a certain elegiac feeling to them.
Lauren Beck graduated from Yale University. Last year her work has been included in group-exhibitions at the gallery and in History Lesson Part III at Gavin Brown Enterprise at Passerby.
Books and DVDs related to artists in this show
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