ArtPlatform-LA
October 1 - 3, 2011 Back to Exhibitions
Press Release
Peep Show of Beauties and Rag Mag Voyeurs Captured Off-Camera by Artist Rachel Hovnanian
New York, NY – Leila Heller Gallery is pleased to present a socially explosive multi-media solo installation by American artist Rachel Lee Hovnanian at Art Platform - Los Angeles, running from October 1-3, 2011 at the LA Mart, with an opening preview on September 30. Growing up in Texas and spending summers in California informed Hovnanian's ongoing exploration of deep stereotypes as they pertain to beauty as well as off-camera realities behind the public illusions of beauty.
Utilizing the large-scale platform of the Texas and California psyche, the artist's intention is to examine 'beauty' and the 'beauty trophy' as a powerful symbol of contemporary values. Encompassing sculpture, an interactive audio installation, painting and photography this selection of work focuses a laser eye on Hovnanian's exploration of beauty's subjective meanings from our tribal past to our media saturated present.
Both (California and Texas) cultures help define the artist's in-depth study of off-camera realities behind the public illusions of beauty. Hovnanian's visual vocabulary includes trophies, narcissus flowers, tiaras, sculptures of swimsuits, cosmetics and the media environment that surrounds and supports them.
Hovnanian's Too Good To Be True archival photographs, represented in the show further define exaggerated pressures of beauty including a corporate Galahad enthroned on his wing chair; preening bodybuilders; a sleeping beauty surrounded by her paraphernalia; and a meat saw representing the cutting agonies of divorce. In one image entitled The Collector, a literal trophy wife takes her place with other trophies in her husband's collection. These works evoke cultural imagery intended to jolt rag mag references and perceptions as to what is the definition of beauty and how the undertones of “The Power and Burden of Beauty” in media fuel our anxieties in print, online and on-screen.
Exhibited outside of Leila Heller Gallery's booth, and in the public space of Art Platform- Los Angeles, will be a site-specific installation of Hovnanian's Fun House Dressing Room. The Fun House Dressing Room allows the viewer to enter the interactive voice rigged dressing room and come to one's own conclusions about how women are measured, valued and objectified.
Rachel Hovnanian lives and works in New York City and received her education at the University of Texas, Austin. Her work has been reviewed in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal Europe, Elle Decor, and most recently in Bomb Art Magazine. She was interviewed on PBS Dallas and Cultural Programming nationally in Spain (Miradas-2). She has had solo exhibitions in New York, Chicago, Madrid, Barcelona, and Antwerp. She exhibited with Leila Heller Gallery in Dubai and at Abu Dhabi Art last year. Her work is now exhibited in Manarat Saadiyat Island, a public exhibition space, promoting the next cultural hub of Abu Dhabi. Hovnanian most recently set up a summer studio in Shanghai and will be exhibiting in China this spring.
Rachel Hovnanian is represented in New York and the Middle East by Leila Heller Gallery, located at 39 East 78th Street at Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10075, 212.249.7695, ltmhgallery.com. The artist’s web address is www.rachelhovnanian.com. For further information, please contact Lauren Pollock, Lauren@leilahellergallery.com
ArtPlatform-LA
October 1 - 3, 2011
Suicides, Libidos, Prenup and Backstabbers!Peep Show of Beauties and Rag Mag Voyeurs Captured Off-Camera by Artist Rachel Hovnanian
New York, NY – Leila Heller Gallery is pleased to present a socially explosive multi-media solo installation by American artist Rachel Lee Hovnanian at Art Platform - Los Angeles, running from October 1-3, 2011 at the LA Mart, with an opening preview on September 30. Growing up in Texas and spending summers in California informed Hovnanian's ongoing exploration of deep stereotypes as they pertain to beauty as well as off-camera realities behind the public illusions of beauty.
Utilizing the large-scale platform of the Texas and California psyche, the artist's intention is to examine 'beauty' and the 'beauty trophy' as a powerful symbol of contemporary values. Encompassing sculpture, an interactive audio installation, painting and photography this selection of work focuses a laser eye on Hovnanian's exploration of beauty's subjective meanings from our tribal past to our media saturated present.
Both (California and Texas) cultures help define the artist's in-depth study of off-camera realities behind the public illusions of beauty. Hovnanian's visual vocabulary includes trophies, narcissus flowers, tiaras, sculptures of swimsuits, cosmetics and the media environment that surrounds and supports them.
Hovnanian's Too Good To Be True archival photographs, represented in the show further define exaggerated pressures of beauty including a corporate Galahad enthroned on his wing chair; preening bodybuilders; a sleeping beauty surrounded by her paraphernalia; and a meat saw representing the cutting agonies of divorce. In one image entitled The Collector, a literal trophy wife takes her place with other trophies in her husband's collection. These works evoke cultural imagery intended to jolt rag mag references and perceptions as to what is the definition of beauty and how the undertones of “The Power and Burden of Beauty” in media fuel our anxieties in print, online and on-screen.
Exhibited outside of Leila Heller Gallery's booth, and in the public space of Art Platform- Los Angeles, will be a site-specific installation of Hovnanian's Fun House Dressing Room. The Fun House Dressing Room allows the viewer to enter the interactive voice rigged dressing room and come to one's own conclusions about how women are measured, valued and objectified.
Rachel Hovnanian lives and works in New York City and received her education at the University of Texas, Austin. Her work has been reviewed in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal Europe, Elle Decor, and most recently in Bomb Art Magazine. She was interviewed on PBS Dallas and Cultural Programming nationally in Spain (Miradas-2). She has had solo exhibitions in New York, Chicago, Madrid, Barcelona, and Antwerp. She exhibited with Leila Heller Gallery in Dubai and at Abu Dhabi Art last year. Her work is now exhibited in Manarat Saadiyat Island, a public exhibition space, promoting the next cultural hub of Abu Dhabi. Hovnanian most recently set up a summer studio in Shanghai and will be exhibiting in China this spring.
Rachel Hovnanian is represented in New York and the Middle East by Leila Heller Gallery, located at 39 East 78th Street at Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10075, 212.249.7695, ltmhgallery.com. The artist’s web address is www.rachelhovnanian.com. For further information, please contact Lauren Pollock, Lauren@leilahellergallery.com