“Stun The World With Your Toughest Glamour” 840mm x 1120mm, Oil on linen
An Exhibition by Sue Reidy
Confronting us with their blank gaze, the dolls that have inspired Auckland artist Sue Reidy’s images reflect her interest in the way women are packaged and objectified in a world obsessed with physical beauty and perfection, in thrall to a vacuous culture of celebrity worship.
“By placing the spotlight on a diverse range of contemporary Asian-manufactured dolls as the inspiration for my imagery, I’m exploring how the qualities of cuteness, über slimness and sexiness are portrayed to little girls as desirable attributes,” explains Reidy.
By greatly increasing the scale of these dolls, Reidy draws attention, with the Bratz dolls and their $2 shop knock-offs, to their unnaturally large heads, their extreme make-up, nonexistent noses, and pouty lips topping provocatively dressed prepubescent bodies. Her uncomfortable, tightly cropped images confront the viewer, begging a second look.
In emphasising the lean torso and thighs of a second range of dolls manufactured to simulate catwalk models, Reidy draws attention to the unrealistic body image being represented.
The depiction of naked dolls reinforces the contrast between the cute, innocent, blank expression in the face and the crude mechanics of joint movement. The faces are only slightly humanised, to highlight the disturbing qualities of dolls that appear at first glance to be perfect.
Reidy uses a bright primary palette and smoothly rendered oils to simulate a plastic surface and acknowledge the mass manufacturing process of these ubiquitous icons of popular culture.
Sue Reidy has participated in various group shows and been selected as a finalist in several national painting awards.
She was formerly a well-known graphic designer. In recent years her focus has switched to painting and she has produced a substantial body of work on the theme of the “The Blank Gaze”.
DIRTY GIRLS COME CLEAN
Friday 9 March – Wednesday 21 March
11.00 – 5.00pm daily
Preview: 6.30pm March 8th
10 PONSONBY RD, AUCKLAND
PH: 09-378 1020
www.blackasterisk.co.nz
courtesy Black Asterisk Gallery
