Richard Taittinger Gallery is pleased to announce the representation of South African artist Frances Goodman (b. 1975).
The gallery will present a solo exhibition with new works by Frances Goodman during 2016 Armory Week.
Frances Goodman is a multimedia artist born in Johannesburg, South Africa. Working with objects commonly associated with female identity, such as acrylic nails, false eyelashes, and jewelry, Goodman explores how their habitual usage evolves into obsession and neuroses. Her humorously dark sculptures and installations suggest self-conscious anxieties play a disproportionate role in governing women’s lives. In her examination of beauty conventions, marriage traditions, and common material possessions, Goodman reveals both the self-imposed and external pressures to conform to societal expectation. Her works rebel against the influence of the male gaze and a media-obsessed, mainstream culture. Meanwhile their glossy, sensual surfaces capture the underlying libidinal energy that motivates consumption, from a gleaming car hood to a metallic nail polish sheen.
"Though Goodman's work reflects a society in which objects can define and burden people; it also celebrates the use of these materials as symbols of empowerment."
— Jennie Lamesdorf
Curator of Francis J. Greenburger Collection
Director and Curator of Art-in-Buildings