Ree Morton (Drawing Center)and Laura Owens(Gavin Brown)

Exhibitions of both artists happening now. Refreshing. Light. Perfectly unperfect and perfectly unfinished. The beauty of the sketch. The beauty of the love shown without Grand appearances or shimmering finery.

“There are two things that have no limit, femininity and the means of taking advantage of it.” –La Femme Nikita

If one is not born a woman, but must learn…then let the learning begin!
MISSION: TO LOCATE, INVESTIGATE AND EXPLOITATE THE POWERS OF FEMININITY.

The Exterior: Hostess with the Mostess
Fashion is the most refined and powerful of all female costuming. Fashion protects and elevates its’ wearers through the projection of wealth, culture and up-to-date cosmopolitan in-the-know-how. Fashion is a way to gain attention when feeling invisible, beauty when feeling ugly, interest when feeling dull and perfection when inside is a cacophony of flaw. In the country, in the city, on the street, in the bedroom, fashion is helpful armor and should be accordingly employed.
Film is a useful tool for observing the constructed self-possession of women. The elements of performance and costume can be readily seen when the context of viewer and viewed is clearly defined and everyone acknowledges the farce.
Performance of other kinds, particularly live music, is another arena to allowably observe women in expertly crafted feminine exterior. Though through these facades something seeable pulsates underneath, forcing one to reckon with…
The Interior: Taming of the Shrew
Why do women need to be so thorough in artfully protecting what lies inside? Is the interior world of a woman so fragile, so bloated with potentially paralyzing emotion that it needs such careful guarding? Vulnerability, desire, innocence, prejudice, ignorance, naivety, distrust, trust, envy, misunderstanding, despair, hope, helplessness, anger, weakness, sadness, etc all lie below the surface waiting for the rank opportunity to compromise rational agendas. A loss of control is something to fear, yet if this potentially harmful beast is harnessed then perhaps it can be directed in strange and beautiful ways.
The Ex/Intermingling: ‘till Death Do We Part
The areas where interior and exterior are separate entities and where and why and how they overlap and entangle are crucial to locate because they, I hypothesize, are where the magical secret of femininity lies; an elixir of vulnerability and power. By investigating women I admire of grand age I hope to gain insight into how through experiences of pain and pleasure they have with years of self-taught, original artistry continued to command and hone their feminine powers.
The talons of my investigation will be as far reaching or caressingly near as my intuition demands. I will see films, read books, visit theater and dance, go to concerts, conduct interviews, attend lectures, and watch YouTube. An abbreviated list of recent areas of research: Agnes Varda; Beaches of Agnes, Jeanne Moreau; La Notte, my grandmother, Collette, Anais Nin, La Roux, Madonna, Karen O, La Femme Nikita, Judith Thurman; Cleopatra’s Nose, Ulrike Ottinger; Ticket to Nowhere, Bimbos, Bitches and Ballbreakers; Guerilla Girls, Daises; Vera Chytilova, He, She, We; Robert A Johnson, Twyla Tharpe, Le Bonheur, 8 Women, September Issue, Vogue, …to be continuing.

coming soon! Ulrike Ottinger

Ticket of No Return.