what’s motherly about mom’s gallery?
Since the inception of the Gender Studies and the reactivation of the feminist flame it is still unknown if feminism is a space for consensus or dissent, if it is a univocal movement, singular or plural. In this sense, how many contradictory sides might a movement have and how many non-coplanar visions might admit? Is there space for ambivalence? Let us remember the inflamed words of Camille Paglia, a self-confessed feminist who goes back to the great conquest of civilizations and cultures to criticize the current bourgeois feminism which, by the way, is developing itself in puerile contradictions capable of re-enacting the long gone and unfair battle of sexes.
The exhibition what’s motherly about mom’s gallery? tries to open, precisely, a space for dissent and exploration of the polymorphic idea of the woman. As is argued by the curators Erica Petrillo and Joana Valsassina, “this exhibition brings together three emerging artists who delve into women’s histories of struggle and liberation by exploring and exposing historical and mythical figures, as well as their own personal stories”. Between appropriation and quotation, the artists are working the themes of “violence, repression, empowerment and sexuality”, without forgetting the “stereotypes, taboos and fetiches”.
At mom’s gallery (a name that meets the curatorial text), New York, until 28 August, with the works of Caroline Federle, Erin Montanez and Jennifer May Reiland.