Femme Fantastique

Once upon a time, in a gallery just up the road, 14 female artists gathered their works together to be viewed by all in the land.

There were paintings, and photographs, moving images and performances. There were Indian princesses, people with bunny rabbit faces, and clowns riding rocket ships.

Ok, enough cutesy talk, but you get our drift.

Fairytales, myths, legends, and fantasies are celebrated in the new exhibit, Femme Fantastique, at Volitant Gallery. The group show captures the colorful and sometimes downright disturbing visions of female artists who hail from New York, Austin, Argentina and Japan.

Through this concept of fantasy, explained Volitant Gallery's Xochi Solis, the artists examine issues of gender, heritage and environment. But the exhibit isn't so much a loud, feminist statement as it is a quieter, softer revolution in feminism — “It’s one more rooted in the past,” said Solis.

Daphane Park, a New York-based artist credited with organizing this exhibit, was found Thursday inside the gallery carefully gluing rooster feathers to her installation, titled guess who the fuck is coming to town. The piece interprets the myth of the Mayan god, Quetzalcoatl, feathered serpent.

“I don’t see this as a feminist show at all,” she said. “It’s more about women and their imaginations, and how we are connected with fantasy.”

In conjunction with Femme Fantastique, Volitant Gallery will be hosting weekly viewings of films inspired by the exhibit. The first two films, shown on Tuesday, Oct. 2nd, will include Experimental Films by American avant-garde filmmaker Maya Deren, and a film by French New Wave director Agnès Varda.

Femme Fantastique

Künstler: Daphane Park, Donna Huanca, Nancy Baker, Annabel Linquist, Frankie Martin, Debra Hampton, Angeliska Polacheck, Carla Gannis, Joan Jonas, Mimi Kato, Nicola Costantino
Filme von Maya Deren, Agnès Varda ...