Elise Peterson, “Grace Meets Matisse.” All images courtesy the artists.
From hawking sports cars to hamburgers, advertising has always relied on the objectification of women to market products. But starting June 26 SaveArtSpace, an arts organization that transforms advertising spaces into canvases for public art, is reclaiming New York City billboards for the female gaze.
SaveArtSpace: The Future is Female will showcase work by female artists on advertising spaces across the city. The exhibition includes a variety of media and styles, ranging from cartoon sketches to puppet-like sculptures. In one piece, titled Grace Meets Matisse, artist Elise Peterson has photoshopped Grace Jones’s iconic Island Life album cover onto Matisse’s La Danse, distorting the painting’s dimensionality in certain ways but contributing to its overall sense of movement.
Lissa Rivera, “Boudoir” from the series Beautiful Boy.
You can see and read much more at The Creators Project and at SaveArtSpace: The Future Is Female.
Every time I see a project title like “The Future Is Female” for just about anything, I have two thoughts in rapid succession: “Yay!” and then “Wait… am I allowed in?”
You are as far as I’m concerned, but wouldn’t it be so damn nice if that question never occurred to you or others? I don’t think I’ll see that day, but it will be a good one.