"Venus Inferred: Photographs by Laura Letinsky"
1999-09-08 until 1999-10-17
Art Gallery of Bishop's University
Lennoxville, QC, CA Canada

In conjunction with the Mois de la Photo à Montréal 1999, the Art Gallery of Bishop's University presents the exhibition Venus Inferred. In this exhibition we present a series of psychologically charged and erotic colour photographs by Laura Letinsky. Through thirteen large-scale photographs, made between 1992 and 1996, Laura Letinsky examines physical intimacy and the gendered implications of its representation.

The composition, the gesture and the lighting of each of the photographs are reminiscent of Old Masters painters, but in Letinsky's work women act as the protagonists not merely as the object of the male gaze. Letinsky depicts the scenes from the female point of view or implies a narrative that revolves around them rather than their male partners.

The portrayal of the private domain, the complex dynamic between everyday heterosexual lovers is the subject matter of Laura Letinsky. The end result is that through her camera the spectator becomes a voyeur, observing the secret thoughts of the couples as well as the constant rituals of glances and embraces, which are inherent to all intimate relationships.

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