Deb Douglas, "Tart"
Gallery 210’s newest exhibit aims to redefine social norms and challenge traditional general roles.
Exposure 15, the latest edition of the long-running group art series at Gallery 210, is called “Re-Domestic” and includes work by Gina Alvarez, Heather Corley, and Deb Douglas.
“This year, I was looking at works with the idea of domesticity,” says Terry Suhre, Director of Gallery 210. “I’d been looking at the work of these three artists for a number of years and I saw in their work connecting themes of romance, nostalgia, a sense of absence and loss.”
The idea for the exhibit was conceived during a discussion earlier this year between Suhre and the three artists over dinner at the Schlafly Taproom.
“During the discussion, we were talking about how the word ‘domestic’ made them uncomfortable,” Suhre recalls. “So Deb threw out the term ‘re-domestic.’ The work they do is to subvert these traditional roles that women hold in society.”
The exhibit includes a variety of artistic styles and media. Corley has created collages with losing lottery tickets and the word “love” written on them to represent the frustration of relationships. Alvarez has made hand blown glass containers resting on wrought iron ledges with sewn assemblages placed inside, meant to reflect subjugated female sexuality. Douglas has taken representations of idealized women from the 1950s and 1960s and incorporated various conflicting images into them.
“These themes should be familiar because they are sort of the second wave of the feminist movement,” says Suhre. “Many artists are incorporating feminist theory with conceptual art practices that result in this coherent narrative that many women find themselves in.”
Originally housed by Webster University, the Exposure series was created by the now-defunct St. Louis Art Association. After the association folded, Gallery 210 took over the exhibit in 2005.
“For many years, it was just kind of a random group show,” says Suhre. “I started giving it more of a curatorial focus where the exhibits would have some kind of logical thematic link.”
Themes of past Exposure exhibitions have included “Art and Science,” “Obsessive/Compulsive,” “Representing the Figure,” and “Reconstructing Nature.”
With its focus on feminist concepts, Exposure 15 aims to illuminate and challenge current female roles.
“In spite of arguably wonderful progress in women’s rights, there are problems,” says Suhre. “From what we heard from Representative Akin, you can understand the struggles that women are still facing.”
“Re-Domestic” will be on display at Gallery 210 on the University of Missouri-St. Louis campus from August 23 to September 29. The gallery will host a reception with the artists on September 6 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. For more information, visit gallery210.umsl.edu.
