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: