MORE THAN A WOMAN?

Group Exhibition

January 13 - May 28, 2023

OPENING EVENT: February 3, 2023 | 5 - 9 PM

On Art: May 3, 2023 | 6:00 PM

Johanna Goodman, The Catalogue of Imaginary Beings (Plate No. 240), 2017, collage

As the Gibb Brothers, of the Bee Gees, wrote in their 1977 disco hit, More Than A Woman

“I’ve seen you growing every day,
I never really looked before
But now you take my breath away”

This upbeat song describes a man finally noticing a woman, and wanting to express a newly found love, culminating in the well known chorus, “More than a woman, more than a woman to me”. One could interpret that although the song flatters a certain sensibility, it also suggests an assumed nature of what it means to be a woman. The romanticism of the song feels built upon surprise - the shock and awe of the man as he acknowledges how the woman surpassed his expectations. This experience of surprise often speaks to the disregard of women as anything outside of their prescribed roles, which are largely defined by their body.

In More Than A Woman?, three artists address the “female form”, referenc- ing the biologically-sexed female body, while simultaneously abstracting it to dismantle Westernized ideals of female roles. These cultural constructs have historically defined women; categorizing them within tropes related to sexual reproduction, domestic partnerships, and employment.

Orly Cogan, Lauren Galban, and Johanna Goodman each utilize the female form to examine and embrace the female body. In doing so, their work adds nuance to the question; what does it mean to be more than a woman?

Participating Artists: Orly Cogan, Lauren Galban, and Johanna Goodman

DuPont II Gallery

VIRTUAL GALLERY TOUR

Photo Credit: Danielle Vennard