BE THEREWho's That GirlPresented by Vanina Holasek Gallery November 30, 2006- January 20, 2007Reception: November 30, 6:00 pm - 8:00 pmDiane Arbus, Danilo Buccella, Francesco Clemente, Sophie Delaporte, Midori Harima, Annysa Ng, Lauren Redniss, Cindy Sherman, Vadis Turner, Russell Young, Andy Warhol
Perhaps the most mysterious woman in the history of art is Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. Her knowing smile has beguiled generations of viewers, but the true identity of the woman pictured in the portrait remains unknown. The power of her allure begs such questions as: Who is she? Where did she come from? And what or who does she desire? Many believe the Mona Lisa to be a portrait of Lisa Gherardini Giocondo, the wife of a wealthy Florentine merchant, Francesco del Giocondo. Others have suggested the subject was a mistress of da Vinci’s, or even a self-portrait, with da Vinci imagining himself as a woman. It is likely that we will never know her true identity. Each of the works in this exhibition raise similar questions of the women portrayed. As the familiar becomes mysterious, curiosity takes over and questions are posed. In Russell Young’s It’s a Big Day in the North, Love, one recognizes actress Elizabeth Taylor from Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Yet one wonders, what is she waiting for? A cigarette? A drink? A man? Who does the underwear in Annysa Ng’s 1 not equal to 2 belong to? A woman? Or, a man wanting to be a woman? Was Vadis Turner’s wax paper lingerie left on the floor from the night before? Are the women in Sophie Delaporte’s photographs prostitutes? Or just random pornographic images Delaporte likes to sew on? Danilo Buccella’s La Foglia della Lussuria can be interpreted as a reference to Marcel Duchamp’s Etant Donné, in which the voyeur strains to see a nude lying supine on a bed of twigs. Is the girl in either of the works even alive? The contrary is true with Century Girl: 100 Years in the Life of Doris Eaton Travis, Last Living Star of the Ziegfeld Follies (Regan Books, 2006), in which author and artist Lauren Redniss, has created an entirely new genre of biography complete with illuminated accounts of its subject and collages made by Redniss herself, a few of which are on view in this exhibition. This biography-in-collage is available at Barnes & Noble.
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