DEVILS & DOLLS is an exhibition, which juxtaposes two powerful words and the provocative imagery each evokes. Devils represent the perversely bad, cruel or wicked while Dolls embody the beauty we all cherish and desire.
“Indeed, at least since the story of Adam and Eve was first told, and the first lessons were drawn from that tale, women artists have wrestled with these images and ideas: ideas such as the notion that beautiful women induce devilish behavior, yet women should strive to be beautiful at all times; and that to be less than ladylike, i.e., “doll-like,” is to court unhappiness.” – says Rebecca Sive, the juror for this comprehensive exhibition of contemporary interpretations of this theme.
Exhibiting Artists: Aviva Alter, Pilar Acevedo, Jjenna Hupp Andrews, Renee Audette, Anne Barnes, Jessica Bohus, Linda Brown, Colleen Choquette-Raphael, Liz Cohn, Barbara Elam, E. Featherstone Hoff, Dawn K. Gettler, Elizabeth Gierosky, Paula Giovanini-Morris, Sandra Hart, Kym Hepworth, Ianthe Jackson, Laura Johansen, Sharon Nelson Kahn, Linda Kelen, Nancy Kramer, Louie Laskowski, Sara McBryde, Jessica H. Meyer, Elizabeth Lundberg Morisette, Shervone Neckles, Carolyn Oberst, Lyndia Radice, Li Raven, Catherine Read, Rebecca Rhees, Cristin Richard, Deanne M. Roth, Katy Rush, Jennifer Rydwansky, Karen Schuman, Laura Shubert, Jane Strasma, Tau, Jennifer Towslee, Bridgette Tritz, Melissa Wilson, Seonaid Valiant, Rachel Verpoorten, Sigrid Zahne.
About the Juror: Rebecca Sive is an art collector and feminist activist who lives in Chicago. She has collected art by women since the 1970s. As founding director of the Midwest Women’s Center, in 1979 Ms. Sive created a women’s art gallery in the Center’s downtown Chicago offices. In 1997, Ms. Sive curated a show, featuring the work of four women ceramists, for the Chicago-based Lillstreet Arts center. She is the principal of The Sive Group, Inc., a public affairs firm that develops special programs focused on women in business, women workers and issues of concern to women in the workplace.
(Banner image: artwork by Laura Shubert)