Man Up! No Balls About It
July 12, 2012 – August 9, 2012
Artist's Reception: Friday July 20, 2012, 6-9 pm
Gallery in the Duderstadt Center
The University of Michigan
2281 Bonisteel Boulevard
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2094
(734)-763-0606
Artists: Ulla Barr, Tracy Brown, Katie Halton, Birgit Huttemann-Holz, Claire Hyman, Krista Jiannacopoulos, Lauren Kalman, Suzy Lake, Tara MacDougall, Carol Morris, Amanda Moyer, Molly Marie Nuzzo, Brenda Oelbaum, Maxine Olson, Patricia Olson, Priscilla Otani, Margaret Parker, Roxanne Phillips, Judith Roth, Helene Smith-Romer, Cyane Tornatzky, Jennifer Weigel, Margi Weir, Lorena Ziraldo.
The Michigan Chapter of the Women's Caucus for Art presents "Man Up!", a national multi-media exhibition that visualizes the essence of power and the notion of "besting" oneself, other artists or men in general. Affecting change in a community or in the world takes a great deal of strength and power. Is doing one's best gender specific? Do women artists have to "paint like a man" in order to make truly great art? Is power gender-specific? What does it mean to "MAN UP!"
This exhibit features work of women artists including celebrity artist/juror, Suzy Lake, a native of Detroit, who now lives and works in Toronto Canada. Lake is among the first female artists to adopt performance, video and photographic work to explore the politics of gender, the body and identity in Canada. Combining photography, performance, film and video Lake's work is notable for its early investigations into the idea of identity as a construct. Using costumes, make-up and props, Lake creates self-portraits for the camera, often by assuming new identities. By highlighting the artifice of her adopted personas, Lake "dramatizes the self-transformation involved in posing for the camera." Today, Lake's art is widely recognized to be pioneering. Roberta Smith of the New York Times notes that Lake's work "parallels and may precede that of Cindy Sherman." In the 1970s, the two artists were contemporaries; Cindy Sherman invited Lake to exhibit in an early Hallwalls show in 1975.
ABOUT THE WCA AND WCA MI:
The Michigan Chapter of the Women's Caucus for Art was founded in 2007 and like the national organization its mission is to create community through art, education and social activism. WCA is committed to recognizing the contribution of women in the arts, providing women with leadership opportunities and professional development, expanding networking and exhibition opportunities for women. WCA supports local, national and global art activism that advocates for equity in the arts for all. As a founding member of the Feminist Art Project, WCA is part of a collaborative national initiative celebrating the Feminist Art Movement and the aesthetic intellectual and political impact of women on the visual arts, art history and art practices, past and present.