BE THEREMotherMenPresented by Monya Rowe October 10, 2006- November 22, 2006Reception: October 10, 6:00 pm - 8:00 pmLarissa Bates
Monya Rowe Gallery is very pleased to announce a solo exhibition by Larissa Bates titled MotherMen. The exhibition includes large-scale paintings on linen and small works on paper. This is the artists’ second solo show at the gallery. The environments depicted in Larissa Bates’ paintings oscillate from her childhood upbringing in Costa Rica and Vermont to the imaginative and surreal. Through her signature method of flattened painstakingly detailed painting, Bates continues to challenge traditional gender roles, raise environmental awareness and question social politics and governing decisions. However, this body of work offers a visual script for re-branding masculinity. It attempts to construct a new gender code where men unabashedly possess traits traditionally associated with women: sensitivity, vulnerability, tenderness and even childbirth. Bates’ model is devoid of social pressures placed upon men to posses a strong bravado; hence the title of the exhibition: MotherMen. Bates’ paintings accumulate an array of symbolism and an abundance of visual information that begs to be carefully examined and dissected by the viewer. Set against a backdrop of architecture, war and invented geometric spaces, the inhabitants range from family members and ‘mermen’ – a hybrid of a man and a mermaid – to wrestlers. Reminiscent of the strange worlds depicted by Hieronymus Bosch (1450 – 1516) and influenced by Japanese and Rococo motifs, Bates’ investigations are universal, yet undoubtedly stem from personal experiences. Fragments of family history, often portrayed affectionately, are combined with violent themes and, at times, unsettling imagery. This bizarre juxtaposition bestows upon us a warped and wonderful landscape of reflection and contemplation. Larissa Bates received a BA from Hampshire College, Massachusetts. Her work has recently been included in group exhibitions at Bendixen Contemporary Art, Denmark; the Mobile Museum of Art, Alabama; the Ulrich Museum of Art, Kansas and Monya Rowe Gallery. She lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.
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