On display from 8 June – 9 July, 2022 and co-curated by Cat Necula, the group exhibition will bring together works by represented and guest artists: Georgia Dymock, Ming Ying, Hande Sekerciler, Ayanfe Olarinde, Sophie-Yen Bretez, and Amélie Peace. By displaying an eclectic selection of works, ranging from painting to mixed media and sculpture, Woman, Empowered seeks to engage the public in the ongoing discussion on society’s preconceptions of gender, sexuality and identity.
Presented in partnership with Women Artists’ Art Week London (WAAWLondon), Woman, Empowered endeavours to provide visibility and recognition to female artists who share unique and pioneering voices. The exhibition seeks to foster a creative environment where viewers can reflect on the importance of showcasing female perspectives and diverse visual languages, and in turn, highlight the pressing issue to address gender equality throughout our contemporary society.
About the artists:
Georgia Dymock is a London-based artist known for her textured oil paintings of fluid tubular forms. Dymock’s process begins with manual sketches transposed into Photoshop and Illustrator digital software which is then manipulated and translated back into the analogue world of paint on canvas. Her subjects reveal her re-imaginings of her friends, family and self, where figures are stripped of traditional body identifiers to allow for new meanings and identities that explore gender fluidity and body image in our post-digital age.
The French London-based painter and printmaker, Amélie Peace, similarly explores the conversation on body and gender fluidity with her vibrant figures’ elongated limbs and piercing gazes. Looking at human connection and what it means not only to have a body, but to share that body, Peace delves into discussions that explore the emotional, sexual and gendered experiences across contemporary society.
Vietnam-born French artist, Sophie-Yen Bretez confronts the viewer with the direct gazes and evident nudity of her figurative paintings, provoking the ‘traditional’ understanding of female nudity and purist behaviours which are slowly being dismantled in the past decades. Bretez focuses on colourful, bold and sensual settings while exploring the questions of pain, duality, and resilience.
Turkish sculptor, Hande Sekerciler strengthens this post-existentialist discussion as she expands on the duality of human nature through her plexi-glass and bronze sculptures of entwined figures with two heads on a singular body. Stripping her figures of traditional gender identifiers such as body form, hair and genitalia, Sekerciler confronts the viewer with figures that inspire reflection on the multi-faceted nature of the ‘self’.
The Chinese, London-based painter Ming Ying introduces societal critique into the exhibition, exploring alienation, race, and acceptance. Ying’s fiery paintings of high-society and the everyday bring to life her understanding of social disparity. As the artist embarks on the journey of self-discovery in a new setting, she incorporates references from theatre and the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries to explore the notion of living a constant masquerade.
Nigerian multi-media artist Ayanfe Olarinde similarly unveils societal critique in her work. Employing scribbling techniques as well as photography and mixed media, Olarinde explores the themes of self-image, identity formation, social reality, collective history and mental health, while probing popular culture and the inefficiencies of the government in contemporary society. Drawing from imperfections in her personal, continuous journey for acceptance, Olarinde’s engagement with the scribbling technique serves to interrogate emotion while also exploring fluidity in form.
Woman, Empowered stands for freedom of expression and unveils diverse and distinctive creative perspectives of a collective female experience during a turbulent and ever-changing era. This exhibition underlines JD Malat Gallery’s diverse programme which seeks to strengthen the dialogue between artists, making evident the connective and encompassing force of art. We look forward to seeing how this project will influence our audiences and how this will become part of the ongoing positive development at JD Malat Gallery to create an open space for conversation about art and its ever-evolving state of change.
Group Show: Woman, Empowered press release
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