May 8, 2022
David Richard Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of new artworks by Dee Shapiro, Redrawn and Redressed, in her third solo presentation with the gallery. The new artworks are comprised of: original painting and ink renderings, collaging of found printed papers, textiles and sewing trims, appropriation of her own original artworks and human hair as well as appropriated published imagery. In the aggregate, these diverse media and methods create female figures that are mostly nude, bathing, or reclining, as her versions of classic female nudes presented over centuries of art history.
Shapiro’s use of geometric patterns and domestic materials brings a different perspective and interpretation to the nude female body. While they are still sexy and full of intrigue, there is a literalness of the female form—and body parts—that moves beyond a gaze and sexualization to a focus on: line, form, color, and the complexities of the constructions and process. Shapiro’s redux of the classical nudes brings a matter-of-fact presentation of the female body with a focus on unique materials and interpretations that provides an immediacy and contemporary perspective to an all too familiar image and historical male scrutiny of the female form. As the title suggests, “redrawing” and “redressing” not only re-presents the imagery in a new context but also attempts to rectify how the female body has historically been overly sexualized and coveted throughout art history.
The collages of Shapiro play with several concepts: the real shapes of women versus the idealized female form based on the male perspective; the unique and functional aspects of the female body for reproduction versus purely for male pleasure; deconstructing the conventional portrayal of the female figure as only sinuous and supple and redrawing the classic female nudes using the artist’s own drawn and painted patterns, sewing materials—often considered “women’s work”—and human (including pubic) hair. The resulting artworks by Shapiro are less sexualized and objectified portrayals of women’s bodies, as opposed to the historical commissioned portraits—by the Masters in the canon of art history—of women who were most likely the “prize” of the men paying the Masters to capture forever the women’s perceived and cherished fleshy beauty in pigment and oil.