FEMME F(R)ICTION at the Academy Mansion

Today I had the privilege of attending an artists’ talk for FEMME F(R)ICTION an “exhibit celebrating female artists of the last 100 Years” at the Academy Mansion in NYC. The exhibit is an interesting tour de force of curatorial and art marketing genius which redefines the power and expediency of “pop-up” exhibits. If you want to see the exhibit in person (through May 19, 2023), it is my understanding that you need to schedule a viewing in advance (https://c1760.art/visit/).

FEMME F(R)ICTION is not a Rolling Stone’s “Top 100 list of Who’s Who of Women Artists.”  Rather, it is a thoughtfully and carefully curated installation that features dynamic women artists. Some artists are venerated and well-established while others are relatively new artists – somewhere in that space of emerging long enough to be recognized. The diversity of the work makes the exhibit thematically eclectic but vibrant. Viewing the exhibit as a collective enterprise, it speaks to the power of community within the context of sharing art and ideas. Assembled in a posh East side establishment, the success of FEMME F(R)ICTION rests in the tremendous dedication and brilliance of the curatorial team who went to great lengths putting it together, and in the artists whose work is represented there.

If we take just a moment to tease out some word play of F(R)ICTION, remove the “R” and you deal with the power of fiction – those things we believe that may or may not be real, and the fictions that we accept and become real whether they are inner narratives or narratives driven by public media. Keep the “R” and the allusions are many such as getting friction from resistance to status quo, friction in relationships, and friction in the heat of the moment that leads to baby making! It’s all there in the diverse range of aesthetics that is bound to intrigue!

If you can’t check it out in person, look at the on-line exhibit which is a little hard to pin-down in a Google search. Enjoy it while you can! FEMME F(R)ICTION https://privateviews.artlogic.net/2/02307574394e862270bec6/

Below are some photos taken of the work in situ:

Isabelle D 1966 From the Bruise Series, 2023 Handmade crocheted and woven natural fibers on canvas 110 x 85 x 8 cm 43 1/4 x 33 1/2 x 3 1/8 in (ID-001)

Anna Kenneally 1995 View from the Vault, 2023 Oil on canvas 160 x 130 cm 63 x 51 1/8 in (AK-001)

Lola Montes Schnabel 1981 Becoming our mothers mother, 2016 Plaster, linen, velvet, wood, chicken wire, newspaper, coral rocks, bonnet 121.9 x 61 x 61 cm 48 x 24 x 24 in (LS – 001)

Sophie Matisse 1965 The Staircase Group, 2001 Oil on linen with wooden step 274.3 x 124.5 cm 108 x 49 in (SM-003)

Maryam Turkey Between Rise & Fall: Illumination, Large, 2021 Plywood structure, paper pulp clay, resin, hand filed brass rods 182 x 63 x 67 cm 71 5/8 x 24 3/4 x 26 3/8 in (MT-001)

Toni Ross – 5 Ceramic Vessels Grouped (N.B. Fireplace relief architectural element of Academy Mansion) Narrow Vessels I, III, VI, VII, Untitled. Slip Brushed Stoneware, 2012.

Susanna Brackman Girl with Corn 101.6 x 60.3 cm 40 x 23 3/4 in (SBr-003)