The Barnes welcomes acclaimed British artist Cecily Brown for her largest U.S. presentation.
Cecily Brown’s “Madrepora (Alluvial)”
For centuries, women have been artistically depicted through a male gaze. Until May 25, the Barnes (barnesfoundation.org) and the Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) are honoring the female perspective through a new 30-piece exhibit: Cecily Brown: Themes and Variations. Presented in the Roberts Gallery, the exhibit features dynamic and often erotic paintings that showcase a flip of gender stereotypes in art history and pop culture. Here, Simonetta Fraquelli, who curated the exhibit with DMA’s Anna Katherine Brodbeck, gives an inside scoop.
How does it feel to host Brown’s first solo exhibition in Philadelphia?
The Barnes Foundation is particularly excited. Brown’s ability to draw on art from all periods has affinities with Dr. Barnes’ collection, which also embraces many epochs and cultures.
“High Society,” an oil on linen, by the artist.
How does this exhibit consider her work from a feminist perspective?
In her Black paintings of the early 2000s, she represents nude figures, as in traditional painting. But in these works, she is conscious both of observing the nude body and knowing, as a woman, what it feels like to be observed and objectified.
How does Brown’s work explore the power imbalances inherent in voyeurism and sexual violence?
In her works of the late 1990s, Brown used the human form, often fragmented and distorted, to create sexually charged imagery. These works critique the historical representation of sexuality and women by men but, at the same time, portray a palpable level of pleasure.
What is one of your favorite pieces in the exhibit?
“The Splendid Table.” The intensity of the reds and yellows and the way the imagery of the still-life objects on the table gradually reveal themselves the more you look at the work, immersing you in the lushness of the paint.
What do you hope viewers will take from the exhibit?
I hope that viewers will explore the works, look at every aspect of their surfaces and hunt out the imagery while simultaneously being immersed in their glorious colors and forms.
Photography by: COURTESY OF: CECILY BROWN; MARTIN AND TONI SOSNOFF
