Marlene McCarty
dal 16/1/2004 al 21/2/2004
Segnalato da
16/1/2004
Marlene McCarty
Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York
The artist came to prominence in the early 1990s through her explorations of sexuality and obscenity via textual renderings on canvas. In recent years, McCarty has assembled portraits of teenaged girls who have killed: usually members of their families, and usually their mothers.
Brent Sikkema is pleased to present an exhibition of work by Marlene McCarty. McCarty came to prominence in the early 1990s through her explorations of sexuality and obscenity via textual renderings on canvas. In recent years, McCarty has assembled portraits of teenaged girls who have killed: usually members of their families, and usually their mothers.
In her first show with Brent Sikkema, McCarty will present six large-scale "murals," which were exhibited in the 2003 Istanbul Biennale. These latest works—completed in 2003—continue McCarty’s exploration of female adolescent violence as a conflicted site of sexuality and identity.
The drawings, painstakingly completed in graphite and ballpoint pen, are composed from an assemblage of sources. The faces are taken from actual images of the girls found in the media, while the bodies are composites from fashion-magazine ads and other photographs. McCarty often draws the girls’ clothing as partially transparent, revealing their blossoming sexuality in her surprisingly de-eroticized rendering of breasts, nipples, and genitalia.
The new body of work, Marlene Olive – 33 Hibiscus Way – Marin County California – June 21, 1975 depicts the subject, Marlene Olive, in various stages of her life—at times with her mother, father or boyfriend. The restrained portraits belie the complexity of her relationships with her family members, and the unspeakable violence she committed against them. The resulting works are remarkable portraits of the psychic turmoil of adolescence.
Brent Sikkema
530 W 22nd St, NY, NY 10011