Art By Sandra Chevrier (All Photos By Gail)
Yesterday was one those perfect summer days here in Manhattan, so we went for a leisurely walk on the High Line, stopping in at a few of our favorite galleries, including Jonathan LeVine, where we enjoyed their current Trifecta Group Show. Trifecta showcases three international female artists — Handiedan, Mimi Scholz, and Sandra Chevrier — who are at the forefront of a contemporary art movement with art that reimagines representations of women. Through an array of media, these artists use the female figure as their subject and are strong voices for a new generation of artists. Curator Yasha Young offers, “This exhibition addresses the fact that art created by women has been historically dismissed as craft as opposed to fine art, affecting the development of women in art throughout history. I would like to open doors for women artists and encourage them to step out and up.”
The show fills all three galleries rooms, one dedicated to each artist. In the largest, main space you can see a collection of work by Montreal-based artist Sandra Chevrier, who merges painting and collage in works that reflect upon the self-imposed limitations within our world and the underlying tragedy of oppressed female identity. In her series Cages, finely hand-painted portraits of women are masked with pages from comic books, symbolizing the struggle of having to uphold unrealistic expectations of beauty and perfection.
By imposing these strict limitations society is placing women in prisons of identity and asking them to become superheroes. In the greater body of her work, the images used within ‘cages’ range from scenes of conflict, triumph and defeat. Often focusing on the latter, the artist highlights the fragility of the superhero, their personal weaknesses and exposes the humanity within the superhuman.
More Photos After The Jump!
Mimi Scholz is based in Berlin and creates digital paintings that sarcastically comment on clichés regarding the female psyche and sexuality.
Starting with a detailed sketch and then using a tablet to add multiple layers of color, her compositions are printed on canvas and have an airbrushed quality that closely resembles oil painting.
Known for her subject matter of “unpredictable women with attitude” and often accompanied by strange creatures, her works are set in a manically imagined world where the lines between good and evil, sane and insane are blurred. We really love her work and her Dark Pop sensibilities!
Dutch artist Handiedan pushes mixed-media collage to a higher level by digitally creating classic female pin-ups using ornamental components such as currencies, sheet music and her own cartoon drawings. Handiedan rebuilds these digital designs into multi-layered hand-cut collages that end up with a distinctive three-dimensional quality. Her pin-ups look like something between an orientally adorned femme fatale from a noir film, a sexually joyful pin-up from a 1950’s calendar and a tattooed rockabilly girl. Each work is a treasure trove of symbols, with a focus on cosmology, Eastern philosophy and sacred geometries.
Trifecta Group Exhibition, Featuring Art by Handiedan, Mimi Scholz, and Sandra Chevrier, will be on Exhibit Through July 25, 2015 at Jonathan LeVine Gallery, Located 529 West 20th Street, 9th Floor, in the Chelsea Gallery District.