Art Review: 'My Women Are Always Victorious'

On Tuesday the 13^th (Mardi Gras) BDC Atelier Gallery hosted the opening of a new show, “My Women Are Always Victorious” curated by The Know.

An Art lover enjoying the work of Andres Maldonado Cortes

Somehow I knew it was going to be a good show from the outset – that’s just the kind of feeling you got from reading over the invitation, which called the event a “pre-valentines’ day art soirée…”- leaving further details to the imagination. Opening in a gallery I’d never heard of, in a venue that seemed to be half coffee shop (Brooklyn Diamond Coffee) and half art spot, this was something I knew I wanted to be a part of. And oh how right I was!

A couple enjoying the DJ set at BDC Atelier

Curator Natasha Roberts, also known as The Know, takes her stance on the topics that are on all our minds in the midst of a highly delicate and polemical #MeToo movement. Yet she does it in such a way that sheds light on part of the conversation that I’m sure resonates not just with the affected women in the crowd, but the men too – who are equally implicated by the consequences of the greater lesson here: time has come for mutual respect and treatment.

THE KNOW: We are in the midst of a major societal shift, one that men too are struggling with: some as aggressors finally facing this day of reckoning, and some as victims who are nervous lately to ask a woman out on a date, naturally for fear of rejection, but mostly for fear of being misunderstood.

Curator Natasha Roberts (left), aka “The Know” and artist Elizabeth Sutton at BDC Atelier

Her all male group show featured three artists whose work takes its inspiration from the opposite sex, yet without making it about sex, objectification, or any kind of male domination of the female soul. The art, varies from a contemporary expressionism (Jose Maldonado) whose females are painted in a large and broad strokes, who look refined yet slightly apathetic. They stand out from the others as they are not afraid to stare back at you, the viewer, as she towers your average man.

Marcarson’s ironic little paintings add a layer of ironic comedy to the show, allowing us to laugh a bit as we take on such a serious topic. The buttocks and legs of a woman hang out of the mouth of a crocodile – yet she does not bleed, she does not flail, and there seems no struggle at all – in fact one wonders whether she is actually being regurgitated. Calling it “Brunch” reminds us of how quickly consumptive we are when it comes to talking about women and sexuality, as if slipping on and off our tongues like a quick meal.

Andres Maldonado Cortes (brother of aforementioned Jose) tops the show off with a pseudo-pop-art effect transposed onto four iconic magazine covers. In his highly edited photographic images, the faces and bodies of his women are fragmented by an overlaid interruption. Whether it’s a distortion of colors, or the superimposed addition of pastiche elements, we see clearly the ultimate manipulation of his female muse; yet in a way that doesn’t interrupting the essence of their beauty, leaving us with the mere suggestion of perfection…oh and it is!

Roberts seems to intuitively get it, where big institutions like the MET are constantly getting it wrong. In 2011 the Guerilla Girls did their latest re-evaluation of how the MET tends to pick its women: 76% of all nudes on display are female, an alarmingly small difference from 1989 stat when 85% of all nudes depicted women.

Two large oil paintings by Jose Maldonado

All My Women wasn’t a show about tits and ass, instead, it celebrated the essential ingredients that bonds men to women and vice versa: love and appreciation.

THE KNOW: I wanted to spotlight male artists who appreciate women and depict these sentiments as the focus of their art. Jose Maldonado, Andres Maldonado Cortes, and Marcarson – are men who create provocative, sexualized works, with respect for their muses.

“Brunch” by Marcarson

Roberts’ intrepid bravery to put on this kind of show is commendable. I only wish we had more opportunities to stimulate these kinds talking points in the same way that she does, by making it an experience that is both healing and provoking. She takes the title of her show from Helmut Newton, the fashion photographer who set the standards for today’s editorial photographs – a man who truly honored his ultimate muse, womenkind. Opening on the night before Valentine’s day, it gave us all an opportunity to reflect on what love and attraction can fully be.