During September 1999 Bang the Gallery will exhibit the work of Lilly Turner
and Tracy Gander. BABES is an exciting combination of work with parallels
in contents and view, but contrast in other elements; each with a strong
individual quality and message; each with a very personal but also universal
view.
Babe/baby/n : 1 a naïve inexperienced person
2a an infant, baby
2b a girl, woman - slang; used as a noun of address
Artist and illustrator, Lilly Turner explores the first meaning of BABES.The
innocent, yet strange infant, the baby with its often bizarre, almost alien
like qualities. She says: Babies are so strange to me - like a separate
race of little aliens. Lending her works ambiguous titles and acid-hued
pastels, Turner moves away from the cutesy, greeting card images of babies
so prevalent in society. For this reason, viewers may find some of her
paintings disquieting. Turners work encompasses both a personal response to
her subjects and provides a gentle challenge to the way we perceive infants.
Tracy Gander explores the stereotypical views of women, the babe, taking the
female stars of 1950s pin-up magazines as a starting point. She
reinterprets the well-known stock poses of these dated images by
photographing modern women who have all agreed to pout, prance and toy with
her camera.
These pictures, I hope, embody a sense of enjoyment, confidence, and a
sense of freedom . I try to create a space where it is permissible (and
safe) to be sexy and beautiful (and intelligent), to role-play, on each
individuals own terms. The images are, therefore, a result of a
collaboration between myself and the individuals who have agreed to model
for me.
Ganders project looks to subvert the derogatory connotations of the term
babe, instead reappropriating it as a suitable title for a sexually
confident, mature woman.>
Babe/baby/n : 1 a naïve inexperienced person
2a an infant, baby
2b a girl, woman - slang; used as a noun of address
Artist and illustrator, Lilly Turner explores the first meaning of BABES.The
innocent, yet strange infant, the baby with its often bizarre, almost alien
like qualities. She says: Babies are so strange to me - like a separate
race of little aliens. Lending her works ambiguous titles and acid-hued
pastels, Turner moves away from the cutesy, greeting card images of babies
so prevalent in society. For this reason, viewers may find some of her
paintings disquieting. Turners work encompasses both a personal response to
her subjects and provides a gentle challenge to the way we perceive infants.
Tracy Gander explores the stereotypical views of women, the babe, taking the
female stars of 1950s pin-up magazines as a starting point. She
reinterprets the well-known stock poses of these dated images by
photographing modern women who have all agreed to pout, prance and toy with
her camera.
These pictures, I hope, embody a sense of enjoyment, confidence, and a
sense of freedom . I try to create a space where it is permissible (and
safe) to be sexy and beautiful (and intelligent), to role-play, on each
individuals own terms. The images are, therefore, a result of a
collaboration between myself and the individuals who have agreed to model
for me.
Ganders project looks to subvert the derogatory connotations of the term
babe, instead reappropriating it as a suitable title for a sexually
confident, mature woman.
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