August 2022
To coincide with the launch of Issue 02 — which includes a beautiful essay by Jo Bragg on Ann Shelton’s recent exhibition an invitation to dance at Two Rooms Gallery — we’ve republished an essay (also recommended reading!) on Ann Shelton’s exhibition REDUX at Envy Gallery, written by Bridget Riggir-Cuddy
From the E-Journal:
“There were also those who clowned, costumed, and camped the male gaze and their own bodies as its object; reproducing it through satire to weaken the default nature of its codes and their use in women’s advertising. Then, a kind of ‘gaze positivity’, where male desirability was reclaimed as something acceptable to one’s own image and its circulation. These strategic frames for the photographic image contended by ’70s feminisms and the history of desirability as a women’s marketing tool unfold much differently on social media today.
The nine photographs selected from Shelton’s mid 1990s – early 2000s portfolio for REDUX throw into relief today’s culture of image making and viewing. With the artist herself the subject of each, these photographs take on familiar narrative and purpose. These are documents of the artist’s look—her outfit, makeup, attitude—before, during, after, a night out. Imposing conventions and behaviours from our photographic current onto the visual field, we make these images selfies.”
