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      ‘The Women Who Changed Photography’ Chronicles 50 Trailblazing Artists

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      Shirin Neshat, “Land of Dreams” (2019), film still. © Shirin Neshat, courtesy of the artist, Gladstone Gallery, and Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, Cape Town, and London. All images courtesy of Laurence King Publishing, shared with permission

      ‘The Women Who Changed Photography’ Chronicles 50 Trailblazing Artists

      October 16, 2024

      ArtBooksHistoryPhotography

      Kate Mothes

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      In 1929, sought-after New York fashion model Lee Miller moved to Paris to apprentice with surrealist photographer Man Ray, joining an influential circle of artists. She and Ray worked so closely together, in fact, that many of her photos have been erroneously attributed to him.

      Like many women, Miller’s work was often overshadowed by her male counterparts. A new book, The Women Who Changed Photography: And How to Master Their Techniques, marks Miller’s contribution to photography among 49 more groundbreaking artists who incorporated unique techniques blazed a trail for future generations.

      Cindy Sherman, “Untitled #577” (2016)

      From Zanele Muholi’s bold black-and-white visages to masters of disguise, like French surrealist Claude Cahun (1894-1954) and contemporary artist Cindy Sherman, identity plays a vital role in many of the practices featured.

      Iranian artist Shirin Neshat, for example, often delves into the complexities of womanhood within Islamic cultural and religious value systems. Pushpamala N. employs narrative and figuration in images that critique stereotypes of women in India.

      Released by Laurence King Publishing last month, The Women Who Changed Photography chronicles the individuals, aesthetics, and approaches that have shaped the field. Grab your copy on Bookshop.

      Pushpamala N., “Yogini F-24” (2000–2004) from Native Women of South India: Manners and Customs

      Claude Cahun, “Self Portrait (Holding Mask)” (undated)

      Julie Cockburn, “Feed the Birds (Women)” (2019)

      Shirin Neshat, “Rebellious Silence” (1994)

      Julia Margaret Cameron, portrait of Julia Jackson Duckworth (1846-1895)

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    • 150 Shares109 Views

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      Frosted Works by Yvette Mayorga Divulge Issues That Are Anything but Saccharine

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      Installation view of ‘La Jaula de Oro’ at Museo de Arte de Zapopan. Photo by Lazarillo. All images courtesy of the artist and Museo de Arte de Zapopan, shared with permission

      Frosted Works by Yvette Mayorga Divulge Issues That Are Anything but Saccharine

      October 1, 2024

      Art Social Issues

      Kate Mothes

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      In a pink, glowing Rococo setting, Yvette Mayorga’s first solo exhibition in Mexico dives into nostalgia, teenage dreams, and how sometimes a sugary coating can conceal crucial truths.

      For La Jaula de Oro—The Golden Cage—at Museo de Arte de Zapopan, the Chicago-based artist (previously) has created four acrylic-piped paintings on canvas and a series of mixed-media sculptures. These include a 1974 Datsun coated in crochet, plush and plastic toys, acrylic nails, faux fur, rosaries, and other ephemera. Pop singer Selena’s song “Dreaming of You” wafts from the car stereo.

      “Bien chiqueada” (2024), acrylic nails, nail charms, toy snake, toy scorpion, clock, scorpion belt, collage, and acrylic piping on canvas, 91.44 x 121.92 centimeters

      At first glance, Mayorga’s compositions appear like delicate, frosted confections, glittering with nail charms and predominantly made in various shades of pink. But upon closer inspection, reminders of a slightly more unsettling reality begin to emerge, such as scorpions, clocks, or mirrors—nods to our relationship with time, others, and our mortality.

      The artist draws on the tradition of vanitas painting, a style popularized during the Dutch Golden Age, often in the form of still lifes brimming with visual cues that power and glory mean nothing when confronted with the inevitability of death.

      For Mayorga, the supple forms of piped bows, rosettes, and borders belie important messages centered around border control, immigrant labor, rampant capitalism, and pop culture.

      Akin to the way cookies or cakes are created to be literally consumed, the artist toys with the notion of fleetingness. “La princesa (Ride or Die),” for example, captures a sense of ephemerality and impermanence: “here today and gone tomorrow,” says curator Maya Renée Escárcega.

      Detail of “Bien chiqueada”

      The artist invites viewers into a seemingly carefree, saccharine space evocative of the opulence of the late 18th century—the era of Marie Antoinette and her famous—if mythical—quote: “Let them eat cake.” Considered the “Rococo Queen,” she is associated with luxury and frivolity, and she came to symbolize the excesses of the wealthy during a period when many people couldn’t afford bread, let alone the delicacies of cake.

      Mayorga’s primary medium is acrylic applied using a pastry bag. She references women workers—especially women of color—from whom colonial discourse stripped notions of femininity assigned to white women. She expands upon the framework of Rococo to analyze 21st-century issues, simultaneously serving us a reminder of the sacrifices and toil required to produce what capitalist society consumes.

      La Jaula de Oro and continues in Zapopan through January 5. Find more on Mayorga’s website and Instagram.

      Detail of “Banquete (Banquet)” (2024), hi-temperature ceramics, resin candle holders, bronze figures, and candles, dimensions variable. Photo by Lazarillo

      Installation view of La Jaula de Oro

      “Capitalist Clown” (2024), collage, acrylic marker, pastel, toy scorpion, and acrylic piping on canvas, 91. 44 x 121.92 centimeters

      Detail of “La princesa (Ride or Die)” (2024), crochet, plush toys, plastic toys, acrylic nails, rosaries, faux fur, belt buckles, vinyl stickers, ceramic tchotchkes, clock, toy cell phone, found license plate, trophy, wood, 161 acrylic roses, and acrylic piping on a 1974 Nissan Datsun, 4 x 1.6 meters. Photo by Lazarillo

      Detail of “La princesa (Ride or Die).” Photo by Lazarillo

      “Made in Mexico (Fecit Mexici)” (2024), mirror, hand mirror, acrylic nails, nail charms, clock, toy scorpion, collage, and acrylic piping on canvas, 91.44 x 121.92 centimeters

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    • 125 Shares139 Views

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      An Ancient Peruvian Site Reveals a Remarkable Painted Throne Room

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      All images courtesy of the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, shared with permission

      An Ancient Peruvian Site Reveals a Remarkable Painted Throne Room

      September 25, 2024

      Art History Science

      Kate Mothes

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      Between about 350 and 850 C.E., a society known as the Moche thrived in the coastal valleys of northern Peru. Pañamarca, in the Nepeña Valley, is the southernmost center of the Moche culture and the site of a remarkable series of recent archaeological discoveries, including the latest: a monumental pillared hall with vibrantly painted walls.

      The Archaeological Landscapes of Pañamarca, founded in 2018, is a collaboration between Peruvian and U.S. archaeologists, art historians, and conservators. Its research and digs are supported by the National Geographic Society, the Institute of Latin American Studies at Columbia University, and the Avenir Conservation Center at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.

      This year, archaeologists uncovered a pillared room containing evidence of its use by a high-status female leader. Scenes depict the powerful woman receiving visitors in procession or seated upon a throne.

      “Scholars will debate whether the woman painted on the walls of the throne room is human or mythical (a priestess, goddess, or queen),” researchers say. “But the physical evidence of the throne, including the erosion to its back support and the recovery of greenstone beads, fine threads, and even human hair, make clear that it was occupied by a real living person—and the evidence all points to a seventh-century woman leader of Pañamarca.”

      The figure portrayed on the walls is associated with the crescent moon, the sea and its creatures, and the fiber arts. Additional murals uncovered this past July reveal a scene of an entire workshop of women spinning and weaving, along with a retinue of men carrying textiles and the leader’s crown—which includes her braids.

      Lisa Trever, professor of art history at Columbia University, says, “Pañamarca continues to surprise us, not only for the ceaseless creativity of its painters but also because their works are overturning our expectations of gender roles in the ancient Moche world.”

      The colorful wall paintings of Pañamarca were first recorded in the 1950s, depicting battles between supernatural beings, priests, warriors in procession, a unique two-faced man, and ceremonial activities.

      “Moche archaeology is well known for its rich, elite tombs, impressive architecture and artworks, and elaborate religious artifacts and imagery,” says a project statement. Atop a granite hill, the site consists of a stepped adobe platform, two lower platforms, a walled plaza, and a number of other structures.

      Dig deeper on the Pañamarca project’s website and Instagram.

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    • 100 Shares119 Views

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      John Pai Transforms Steel Into Delicate, Airy Sculptures

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      “Shared Destinies” (2014), welded steel, 85.5 x 108 x 85 centimeters. Photos by Geoffrey Quelle. All images © John Pai, courtesy of
      the artist and Gallery Hyundai, shared with permission

      John Pai Transforms Steel Into Delicate, Airy Sculptures

      September 12, 2024

      Art

      Kate Mothes

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      For more than seventy years, John Pai’s artistic practice has delved into themes ranging from memory and the subconscious to international art forms, East Asian philosophy, and science. Starting in the early 1960s, he began working with steel, investigating both its technical and aesthetic potential through abstract shapes influenced by Constructivism.

      Pai is known for his meticulous and detailed metal sculptures, which weld thin strips in lattices and sheets to create delicate woven textures. A material we typically associate with heavy-duty construction is transformed into intimate works that appear as if they could float on air. Soft curves and gauzy surfaces suggest organic forms or textiles in contrast to industrial applications.

      “Risen, Fallen, Walken” (1987), welded steel, 120 x 109 x 54 centimeters

      Shared Destinies, the artist’s solo exhibition at Gallery Hyundai, presents nearly 40 pieces Pai has made throughout the past seven decades. Comprising welded steel sculptures, drawings, and paintings, the show illuminates the artist’s multidisciplinary approach to material, process, and form.

      In the work “Shared Destinies,” for example—which lends the show its name—layers of delicately welded steel suggest a woven basket. Ethereal pieces like “Invocation” bring to mind the undulating, woven wire sculptures of Ruth Asawa. The visible inner structures mirror the universal layers of the human psyche, time, and the artist’s journey of self-exploration.

      Shared Destinies continues through October 20 in Seoul. See more on the gallery’s website.

      “Involution” (1974), welded steel, 98 x 98 x 97 centimeters

      “Forgotten Rule” (1990), welded steel, 92 x 102.5 x 41.8 centimeters

      “Untitled” (1982), welded steel, 86 x 52 x 58 centimeters

      ‘Heaven and Earth’
      series, 1 to 7 (2024), welded steel, variable dimensions

      “Untitled 1970, Entitled 2021” (1970), welded steel, 92 x 92 x 38.9 centimeters

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