ArtNUDE Philly at James Oliver Gallery

ArtNUDE Philly at James Oliver Gallery

Katharine Gould’s performance, The Disappeared, told the story through music, performance and dance of the plight of a young Argentine woman, pregnant with child, who was abducted by the military junta of the 1970s. Through expressive movement, disturbing dialog and Spanish song, Gould described in grisly detail the kidnapping of a young pregnant woman who was kept captive, forcibly and repeatedly gang raped, tortured with electric prods, then forced to deliver her child by a “doctor”. After the birth, she and the other young women like her were loaded into an airplane and then dumped overboard into the ocean.

The babies were then sold into a black market adoption scheme to American families who wanted babies but weren’t qualified to adopt legally. The money funded the military and the babies were separated from their real families. Apparently, the performer was one of those children and submitted to a blood test which proved her familial connection to her grandmother in Argentina who had been searching for her “disappeared” daughter and got her adopted family into trouble. The artist described how her adopted father was “disappointed” at her betrayal.

After the performance, DoN‘s friend Cassandra wondered if this story could be true? Unfortunately, yes, the story of disappeared young pregnant women, with all the disgusting violence and disregard for life, is true. Katharine Gould is a student of the Pig Iron Theater School and the stunning performance, with her running into the audience pleading, begging and crying for her lost child was emotionally electrifying. And when she explained that the scarf she used as a prop actually belonged to her real mom there wasn’t a dry eye in the room. DoN choked back tears and thought about the recent political conversation about rape and the awful reality and brutality that was dismissed as perhaps the woman’s fault as if she asked for it. No one asks for this. But, the performance was just that, a one person play to dramatize the horrific story of The Disappeared.

Katherine Gould sent DoN a message,”I am not Argentine and this piece was not based on my personal life experience but rather a topic that I am deeply invested in.  My information and the text is based on articles and books, documentaries and conversations.  I did live in Argentina when I was 21, but, I was born in Philadelphia and grew up in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.  I am glad that the final character was so convincing, but she is a character developed through my research and imagination.”

The backdrop for the performance is an extraordinary art exhibit of artwork relating to women and their bodies. Breasts are idolized in art and the public media, the male gaze is the focus but little is discussed about the reality of breast cancer and the fear and anguish women suffer in near silence.

Jayne Toohey‘s collection of photographs documents a friends breast cancer surgery with a clear eye and bold vision. So little is shared in the media of the decisions women must make when the options for treating cancer are discussed. Doctors often simply recommend mastectomies without offering suggestions for post surgical reconstruction or plans to heal the soul and spirit. DoN asked the photographer how she got access to the surgery and she explained her friend wanted to share her experience through art. The images are hard to take, the subject so sad and disturbing that many looked away, but the reality is we must face this crisis together. By looking and actually seeing we can then empathize and find ways to help the women in our lives to heal and become whole again.

Jayne Toohey‘s photography is graphic in the same way that Robert Mapplethorpe or Diane Arbus or even Zoe Strauss reveals the secret lives of individuals, but this photographic documentation exposes what few are willing to share – the pain, fear and disfigurement of breasts, one of the most revered and idolized body parts in all of art.

Erica Harney‘s mixed media painting is full of contradictions and mixed metaphors like androgyny, healthy environments, women’s work and social consciousness. The artist explained the painting was worked and reworked by adding found objects, repainting surfaces and searching for the right narrative through color, line and shape. The bold, expressive painting draws the eye into a confusing environment where nothing is as it seems.

Lauren Rinadi‘s paintings celebrate the nude body but with a conscious emphasis on the female self observation of their outward adherence to societal acceptance of beauty. The oil panel describes the woman’s love for her own body but a willingness to literally starve to appear thin as a supermodel. The exposed ribs are beautiful but frightening that skin and bones are considered the archetype of modern beauty instead of the full, round and soft forms of Marilyn Monroe. The painting reminds DoN of the public battle pop icon Lady Gaga has endured as she matures from a skinny teenager into a grown woman and the pressure the media has put on her to remain thin, actually blaming the woman for becoming the shape she should actually be to be healthy.

Cassandra Hoo‘s Bonded Forever jewelry line is perhaps the most poignant example of art addressing cancer in the ArtNUDE Philly exhibit. The jewelry line is based on the idea of wearing a symbol to share with a person experiencing cancer therapy. Sets of necklaces or bracelets include a double strand for the cancer patient and single stands for their supporters. The jewelry is lovely but the emotional sentiment is sublime, instead of wearing pink or a ribbon symbol, the artist has designed a way for families and friends to share in the experience of struggling with cancer in a modern, intellectual and adoring way through beauty and love, not pity and fear.

ArtNUDE Philly ends 11/16/12 but will be an annual event to shed light on cancer awareness and help raise funds for groups working towards a cure like the Linda Breed Breast Cancer Foundation.

Artists of the 1st Annual ArtNUDE Exhibition 2012:

David Swift, Dolores Poacelli, Jennie Nguyen, Chuck Hosier, Lauren Rinaldi, Nicole Turner, Benjamin Lee Sperry, Ashley McDowell Clark, Nicolas Holland for Tattooed On My Arm, Kerry Hansen, Jesse Beamesderfer, Albert Aldinger, Cassandra Hoo of Bonded Forever Jewelry, Pete Checchia, Erica Harney, Ilisa Katz Rissman, Jayne Toohey, Alyssa Maloof, Emil Alzamora

Congratulations Artists! In helping ArtNUDE Philly Promote Breast Cancer Awareness!

Written and photographed by DoN Brewer.

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