25 October to 22 November 2008
Preview night 24 October, 6 – 9pm
Whitecross Gallery
122 Whitecross Street
London EC1Y 8PU
+44 (0) 207 253 4252
info@whitecrossgallery.com
Further information:
www.whitecrossgallery.com
or email info@plessner.co.uk
Girlie – current exhibition
‘Girlie’ is a solo exhibition of paintings that respond to the concept of the girlie in 20th century popular culture. Plessner's iconography is a caustic commentary on the paradox of the sexualized woman-child. Her work makes specific reference to a range of representations of the girl-like women in popular culture throughout the century, such as the soft porn female nudes of the 30s and 40s to the present day practice of children imitating fashion models. Her work points-up the conundrum of marketing ‘fantasy’, products such as that of the princess, fairy queens, the playboy bunny etc., that upholds and perpetrates these ideas and contrasts that with the derogatory language that is used to describe female sexuality in general.
Biography
Born in Vancouver, Canada. Studied Painting at the Emily Carr College of Art, Vancouver, Canada. Transferred to the Akademie der Bildenden Kunste, Munich, Germany. Studied Painting with Prof. Robin Page (one of the early members of the Fluxus Movement). Moved to London and continued to paint pictures full time and exhibit. Awarded a Personal Masters Diploma for Painting by Prof. Robin Page. Completed a BA (Hons) Philosophy, University of London. Senior Lecturer at the University of the Arts, London (Course Director for the Graduate Certificate in Book Arts).
Exhibitions
2008 'Twisted Pretty', Hackney Wicked Art Festival, London
2008 'It's a Wallpaper World', LCC, University of the Arts London
2007 A Rootless Cosmopolitan's Guide to Home-Hunting, illustrated book published by University of the Arts, London
2007 White Collar, artists' magazine, issue no. 5
2006 John Moores 24, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
2006 Square Root of Drawing, Temple Bar Gallery, Dublin
2006 4th International Artists Book Exhibition: King St. Stephen Museum, Hungary
2004–05 Pop-up Politics, Solo Exhibition, Chester Beatty Library Museum, Dublin
1996 Leerer Beutel, Staatliches Museum, Regensburg
1994 Between Europe and America' Solo Exhibition, The October Gallery,London
1985 All Stars Exhibition, Munich
1986–1998: 24 group exhibitions have been held in various countries (London, England; Munich & Regensburg, Germany; Dublin, Ireland; Basel, Switzerland; Washington D.C., U.S.A.)
Awards
2008 Research Grant, LCC, University of the Arts London
2006 Research Grant, LCC, University of the Arts, London
2005 Temple Bar Gallery & Studios Residency
2005 Research Grant, LCC, University of the Arts, London
2004 AHRB Grant: Arts and Humanities Research Board
Reviews
09 Apr 2005 Political and Eye Opening Interactive Art , David Roy, Irish News
17 Mar 2005 Why Not Pop In on the World of Politics , J. Caldwell, Belfast News Letter
17 Mar 2005 New Exhibition has an Innovative Way to View Politics , Daily Ireland
02 Jan2005 Pop up Politics , The Sunday Times
25 Nov 2004 When a Book is no Longer a Book , Susan Conley, Irish Examiner
14 Nov 2004 Pop up Politics , Sara Keating, In Dublin Magazine
06 Nov 2004 Through a Telescope Darkly , Billy Leahy, The Village
23 Oct 2004 Pop up Political Pictures , Irish Times
29 Oct 2004 Comic Art: Pop up Politics , Susan Conley, Irish Independent.
2004 Eyes Wide Open , Angelina Giannarou, Exhibition Catalogue
1994 Artist Caught in the Continents , Samantha Lewis, Canada News
1992 Exhibition Catalogue, Nicolas Grene
Radio Interviews
01 Dec 2005 RTE1: Rattlebag; the Daily Arts Review Programme
| Listen: |
Additional info
If like me, you are interested in issues in Aesthetics, and in particular, in my groundbreaking work on Depiction, please contact me for a copy of the dissertation. I am indebted to Professors Marjorie Grene and Susan James for their good guidance and intellectual generosity. Had I not been so fortunate in knowing them, I doubt I would have solved one of the oldest riddles in philosophy! That said, they are free to distance themselves from any association with this revelation, and they are certainly not responsible for any clangers.
How is it that a depicted object looks like an actual object even though a drawing and an object are so unlike one another? This paper argues that J.J. Gibson's work on visual perception offers new grounds for understanding the relation between pictures and objects. For a copy, please contact me.
