Wünder Womxn: The Female Figurative

Curated by Gallery Manager Rebecca Smith
Preview: Saturday 23 October (1-4pm)
Exhibition: 24 October – 27 November, 2021

Press Release
PDF Catalogue of works

WÜNDER WOMXN: The Female Figurative is our first (and only) group exhibition of 2021. We are thrilled to bring together such a stellar roster of exclusively female painters whose predominant painting practice surrounds the female figure. Artists in this exhibition come from varied technical and experiential backgrounds, but the overriding concept is that the works should primarily concern the female figure. Traditionally, the painted female has been a trope of male painters, from Classical Antiquity to more contemporary examples like Degas or Gauguin. However, the problems inherent in this (scopophilic gaze or) point of view have typically been that of patriarchal control or sexual desire. Not to mention an art-historical canon that has traditionally bypassed female painters almost entirely. By presenting female painters who address the female form, however, the notion shifts, becoming about identity, empowerment, and self-discovery; it can include the social and political; and in many cases, even includes a narrative focus or playful exploration. The exhibition includes various stylistic perspectives and artists with vastly different interests, all of who find a nexus of inspiration in the female. Further, we are equally thrilled to announce that the included artists come from diverse geographical backgrounds, including Canada and the USA, Greater Europe, Iran, Africa, and Colombia.

ERIN ARMSTRONG (b. 1990, Canada). Armstrong is a former Graphic Designer and self-taught painter. Solo exhibitions include: ‘Burden of Broken Silence’, Bau-Xi Gallery, Toronto (2019); ‘The Space Between’, Foster/White Gallery, Seattle (2019) and; ‘Crumbs in the Glitter’, Duran | Mashaal Gallery, Montreal (2020). Group exhibitions include: ‘Dualities: A Bridge Between Two Worlds’, Bau-Xi Gallery, Vancouver (2017); ‘Fresh Faces’, New Zones Gallery, Calgary (2019) and; ‘Method III’, Bau-Xi, Toronto (2020). Selected collections include: Nike, The Century Plaza Hotel (LA), and Hullmark. Armstrong currently lives and works in Toronto.

SABRINA BOCKLER (b. 1987) Bockler graduated from Parson’s School of Design in 2011. Selected exhibitions include: ‘Sabrina Bockler’, The Clark Gallery, Boston, MA, (2021); ‘Quiet Fire’, Far by Wide Gallery, New York (2021); ‘By Yourself With Everyone’, Good Mother Gallery, LA (2020) and; ‘The Velvet Ropes’, Patrick Parrish Gallery, New York (2018). Bockler currently lives and works in New York.

KATJA FARIN (b. 1996, Los Angeles). Farin completed her BA in Fine Art at UCLA in 2018. Solo exhibitions include: ‘Carry, Carries, Carried’, In Lieu Gallery, LA (2019); ‘Lines From Arguments’, Lubov, New York (2020) and; ‘Hum of Virtue’, In Lieu Gallery, LA (2021). Group Exhibitions include: ‘It’s a Sad and Beautiful World…’, Wilding Cran Gallery, LA (2020), and; ‘PAPA RAGAZZE!’, Nicodim Gallery, LA (2021). Farin currently lives and works in LA.

RUSUDAN KHIZANISHVILI (b.1979 Tbilisi, Georgia). Khizanishvili completed two BFAs in painting in 1998 and 2003 respectively, at the J. Nikoladze College of Art and the Tbilisi State Academy of Art. In 2004 Khizanishvili completed her MA in Film Studies at the Tbilisi State Academy of Art. Solo exhibitions include: ‘Of Goddesses and Women’, Window Project, Tbilisi (2021); ‘Rooms & Beings’, 68 Projects, Berlin (2020) and; ‘New York Meets Tbilisi: Defining Otherness’, Assembly Room, New York (2020). Group exhibitions include: ‘Figurative Samplers’, Museum of Modern Art, Denmark (2021); ‘The Moon’, Nil Gallery, Paris (2021); ‘Something Has Changed’, The Cube Gallery, Moscow (2021), and; ‘Endless Worlds’, Annarumma Gallery, Napoli (2021). Khizanishvili currently lives and works in Tbilisi, Georgia.

LINDSEY KIRCHER (b. 1997. Paris, France). Kircher completed her BA in Fine Art at Pennsylvania State University in 2019. Solo exhibitions include: ‘Babe Cave’, Hub Robeson Gallery, University Park, PA (2019) and; ‘Wild Women Don’t Get The Blues’, 5-50 Gallery, Queens, New York (2021). Group exhibitions include: ‘Punch’, 5-50 Gallery, Queens, New York (2020) and; ‘CURE/rated: Bigotry, A Social Cancer’, PAVE Contemporary, London (2021). Kircher currently lives and works in Northern Virginia.

PEGGY KUIPER (b. 1986. Alkmaar, Netherlands). Kuiper is a self-taught artist and photographer. Kuiper completed her course in Graphic Design at the St. Joost College of Art & Design in 2010. Kuiper currently lives and works in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

NASTARAN SHAHBAZI (b. 1982. Iran). Shahbazi completed her MA in Visual Arts from Paris 8 University, France in 2010 and prior to this graduated in Motion and Graphic Design at the Gobelins L’École de L’image, Paris in 2009. Solo exhibitions include: ‘The Sun also Rises’, at both Mur Nomade, Hong Kong and Azad Art Gallery, Tehran (2016) and; ‘Things Scatter’, Azad Art Gallery, Tehran (2014). Group exhibitions include: ‘Carnival’, Amnesty International, Hong Kong (2017); ‘Landscape’, Niyavarn Cultural Center, Tehran (2017) and; ‘Peace on paper’, Iran 2nd Contemporary Art Biennale, Niyavarn Cultural Center, Tehran (2016).

ANGELA SANTANA (b. 1986 Zurich, Switzerland). Santana studied Graphic Design at F+F School for Art & Media Design and Medien Form Farbe Zurich, before working in Hamburg, Paris, and London as a Creative Director, Artist, and Designer. Group shows include: ‘Untitled’ (a group show of portraiture), Untitled Space, New York City (2021); ‘Art She Says Salon’, West Village, NY (2021); ‘BODYpainted’, Gallery Konstanze Wolter, Germany (2021) and; ‘Darkest Before Dawn’, Ethan Cohen Kube, Beacon, New York (2020). Santana currently lives and works in New York City.

DEBORAH SEGUN (b. 1994, Nigeria) lives and works in Lagos, Nigeria. She obtained a degree in Fashion Design at the Polimoda Institute of Fashion Design and Marketing in Florence, Italy in 2017. Solo exhibitions include: ‘Being Free’, SMO Contemporary Art Gallery, Lagos, Nigeria (2020); ‘Play as Collective’, AWCA, ArtxLagos Art Fair, Lagos, Nigeria (2019); ‘Still Life’ Art Oja, Lagos, Nigeria (2019); ‘I Feel Like I Am’, Relate Africa, Lagos, Nigeria, (2019). Group exhibitions include: ‘Eparapo, The Working Girls Forum’, A Whitespace Creative Agency, Lagos, Nigeria (2019); ‘Affordable Art Fair’, Arthouse Contemporary, Lagos, Nigeria (2019); ‘Art Oja Portfolio II’, Miliki, Lagos, Nigeria (2018); ‘Family & Friends’, Wafflesncream, Lagos, Nigeria (2018); ‘Polimoda Performance Art & Fashion Show’, Florence Italy (2017)

MAYA STEFANIA WIBLING (b. 1977, Odder, Denmark). Wibling completed her studies at Aarhus Art Academy in Aarhus in 2010. Solo exhibitions include: ‘Soil Moon Hand’, KH7smallspace, Aarhus (2019) and; ‘Closed Stroke is a Shape’, See! Exhibition & project space, Aarhus (2018). Group exhibitions include: ‘Grave Monuments’, Kunsthal Aarhus, Aarhus (2021) and; ‘Charlottenborg Spring Exhibition’, Copenhagen (2021). Wibling currently lives and works in Aarhus, Denmark.

STEFANIA TEJADA (b. 1990, Colombia). Tejada studied Fashion Design at LaSalle College in Columbia. Solo exhibitions include: ‘Territorial Beings’ w. Maison Kitsuné, Paris (2021) and; ‘Nocturnal Gods’, The Artistellar, London (2021). Group exhibitions include: ‘Every Women Biennial’, LaMama Galleria, New York (2019) and; ‘Benefit Auction’, Sotheby’s, Vienna (2020). Tejada currently lives and works in Paris.