The Opening for Not Barbie was perfect!

It's been way too long since I last wrote a blog entry!  I've missed it, but I was so blasted busy putting on Not Barbie, I couldn't see beyond my eyeballs, much less think cogently enough to write a post!  But I'm back.  I hope.

The opening for Not Barbie: A Celebration of Real Women was perfect as far as I was concerned.  There were zillions of people there from so many different pockets of my life, and there were zillions of people there whom I didn't know yet.  I gave an Artist's Talk at 5:30 which was very well-attended.  I think there were about 200 people there for it.  I felt so honored.  I talked about why I do my art and about how we can begin to change the way we perceive and judge ourselves and others.  I'll talk more about it in a later post.

The evening began with that bang and continued fabulously right on til 9:00 when it finally ended.  Many people came and read all the stories by the models, honoring each and every one of them with their loving attention.  Women came up to me with tears in their eyes, sharing how much the art and the stories mean to them.  Men spoke to me about their own struggles with body image and assured me that it is NOT just a woman's issue.  I am wondering if perhaps I should begin drawing and painting men again to help with the inequity some men felt in my show.  Of course I don't mean to be exclusive.  Men are being portrayed with perfect bodies more and more these days.  It's daunting to try to live up to the perfection that feels demanded of us.  More about that in future posts as well...

In the meantime, I thought I would post some pictures from the exhibition in case you can't make it.  I'm thrilled with how well Crossroads works for such a show - it's a wonderful, huge space with a few smaller walls for intimate pieces as well as large stretches for bold statements.

A Celebration of Life on the entrance wall to the Gallery

Don't Mess with Me on the second entrance wall to the Gallery

Some of the largest pieces on the back wall as you enter, Scar Belly, Mother and Daughter Jocks Bound by Caution, and Joyful, Joyful.

Gaye Adegbalola and other pieces

A smaller corner of the gallery with the interactive exhibits and some of the more intimate pieces.

Wall near the entrance with the lights turned on

another view of the interactive corner.  On the left is an interactive exhibit where you can compare yourself to Barbie, Venus von Willendorf, and a full size model.

Shelia x4 and other pieces.  This area will serve as our stage for the Beyond Barbie nights

Illumination and In Memoriam

 

 

The show will be up until November 7 at Crossroads Art Gallery here in Richmond, Virginia.  I hope you get a chance to see it!

Catalogue, show preparations

An incredibly busy art day!  Last night I stayed up until 3 AM finishing up the catalogue.  I wanted to send it in today, but the place was closed for Labor Day.  I'll do it tomorrow.  I'm excited about how it has turned out and hope it will look good when it's printed.  It'll be available at the show for $25 or beforehand for $20 if you let me know you want one.

I also went through my address list to make sure I'm sending everyone I can a postcard.  I figured out how to make labels - it's very complicated with the new version of Word somehow - then printed them up, stuck them on the cards, then put stamps on them and went to the mailbox to send them.  If you're on my list, you should get one very soon!  I actually ran out of cards that can be mailed, so I'll have to hand most of them out in person.

After doing all that busy work and not painting for 4-5 days, I finally got into the studio to paint.  I'm working on a piece I'm calling, "Don't Mess with Me!"  It's a larger-than-lifesize portrait of a woman looking directly into the camera wearing her grandmother's heavy turquoise and silver necklace.  She looks very powerful.  I've painted a pattern in the background.  I don't have a picture of it right now but I'll get one for tomorrow.  I have mostly finished her body, but the necklace is only 1/4 of the way done.  It's going to take some time because it's so ornate and complicated.  It'll be fun to see it start to look like real jewelry!  I'm hoping to have the piece finished in time for the opening Sept 30.  There are no objectional body parts showing, so it's a good piece to put in the window for public consumption.

Chris and I spent a few hours yesterday laying out the pieces for the show.  It was fun trying to figure out where to put what.  The front wall will say the following, "All Women Are Beautiful."  "All Flesh is Sacred."  Under that will be the two paintings I've pasted in above.  I think they, along with the statements, will get people thinking about the concept of body image and what is beautiful right away.  I find both of these women incredibly courageous and gorgeous, but I'm not sure they would make it into Vogue magazine because they don't fit Madison Avenue's idea of ideal beauty.  I imagine some people might have judgments come up when they see them.  What a great opportunity to examine those feelings and discover what they're about.  I think the show will give people many opportunities like that!

I'm starting to get very excited about the show.  I've been working on these paintings for almost two years now.  I've shown bits and pieces of them but never all of them in one place.  I'm excited to see how they look all hung with so many of them in one place.  I wonder what sort of impact they'll have.

I do hope you'll join me if you can!