Lesley Bodzy
Katie Commodore
Womanhood 102
May 31-June 8, 2024
Opening Reception: Friday, May 31, 6 – 8 PM
Space 776, 37-39 Clinton St., 1st Fl., New York, NY 10002
In Womanhood 101 we studied modes of gender socialization, outlined acceptable behavior for the sexes, and saw many attempts to constrain and box in women. Women passed down rules and unrealistic standards to girls that became reinforced in society through culture and media. Welcome to Womanhood 102 where women speak out. Artists Lesley Bodzy and Katie Commodore’s rebellious sculptures, tapestries, paintings, and prints serve as physical retaliation. While the feminist poems “Girl” (1978) by Jamaica Kincaid and “Be A Lady They Said” (2017) Camille Rainville that both list prescribed model female behaviors, all contradictory—set the tone. Students in Womanhood 102 will be asked to critically consider their role within the processes of learning and unlearning.
“You look so old. Look young. Look youthful. Look ageless. Don’t get old. Women don’t get old. Old is ugly. Men don’t like ugly.” – Rainville
In Bodzy’s series FOGO (Fear of Getting Older), she confronts the media’s offensive anti-aging campaigns disregarding women as they age. Newly inflated balloons are encased in silicone and glue to preserve their body’s fullness before succumbing to the inevitable. The preservation process highlights what they were trying to avoid—visible signs of deflation. Yet, in their new state, these shriveled and deflated balloons have become more beautiful, more intriguing, and something you want to keep and explore. In her Goddess series, silicone slabs resembling flayed torsos with breasts hang from metal meat hooks. In her Goddess series, silicone slabs resembling flayed torsos with breasts hang from metal meat hooks – a caveat for the lengths women go through to obtain youth offers a glimpse into the female psyche and the effects these pressures have on women’s self-perception.
“…this is how to hem a dress… to prevent yourself from looking like the slut I know you are so bent on becoming.” – Kincaid
Commodore’s intimate tapestry portraits rebel against the labels surrounding women’s sexuality by creating an environment in which her subjects are in full control of how they want to present themselves.
