SHē is an exhibition that explores what it means to portray the female persona through contemporary interpretations. Informed by historic imagery, artists reinterpret the art of depiction and translates their own construction of identity as it questions the face of femininity.
The rendering of the female figure within a historical context opens dialogues of superiority, fragility, sexuality and society’s engagement with issues of gender. Implied standards of perfection are perpetuated by cultural pressures, and as such the female body as both object and subject reflects the shifting aspects of beauty throughout our many histories.
Portraiture in the widest sense can be defined as an individual representation of persona and how that depiction then qualifies that singular view. The artists in SHē reflect upon this rich yet charged history in their own portrayals of women. Consciously influenced by historic modes of portraiture, SHē embodies poignant works whose contemporaneity is rooted in their awareness of what has come before.
Artists include Kim Tucker, J Michael Walker, Douglas Tausik Ryder, Andrea Patrie, Deborah Martin, Cima Rahmankhah, Sara Alavikia, FLOAT (Kate Parsons and Ben Vance), Kristine Schomaker, Annelie Mckenzie, Phung Huynh.