Emily Mae Smith, “Avalon”
I visited Emily Mae Smith’s solo exhibition at Perrotin Tokyo. The venue was Perrotin Tokyo in Roppongi.
Emily Mae Smith is a female artist based in New York.
Aware of a male-dominated art history, she takes on the challenge of weaving her own experiences and perspectives into her paintings.
As seen in Gleaner Odalisque, a figure modeled on a broom — a symbol of the housework traditionally performed by women — appears in her work, in an approach that cynically depicts a male-dominated society.
In Disney’s Fantasia, the broom also appears as a character that rebels against the sorcerer.
“When you were about to be dominated by someone, it was this humble object of low status that was able to wield real power,” she says.
This is her first solo exhibition in Japan.
Viewing the works with gender and sexuality in mind, the colors woven into them seemed to rise to the surface, and the intent of each piece became strikingly clear.
