Suzy Lake

Beauty

Sept 7-28, 2002

Paul Petro Contemporary Art is pleased to present Suzy Lake's Beauty exhibition. Here is some of what Suzy has to say about the current work:

“My work began in the late sixties as a means to come to terms with the politicizations of that period. It responded to issues of identity and of the body within a social context. In the bodies of work titled Re-Reading Recovery and My Friend Told Me I Carried Too Many Stones (1995-99) there is a quiet celebration of life's experience. The work is positive and yet maintained a history of previous struggles. Beauty moves away from the sixties' politically romantic foundation of those battles to consider the expectations raised by the twenty-first century's new heights of consumption, and assumptions within youth/pop star obsession.

“As each 'super-babe' --or 'super-stud'-- moves into the pop arena, they don the all-important accoutrements of notable, radical, or current fashion. It is a full package, only to be replaced by the next fad. I am now 55; what can I do that Brittany Spears cannot do? The issue of ageing is not new (nor always gender specific); but what is new is the increase of a middle-aged (female) work force that competes against a faster speed of the young, new, and/or disposable. In 1997, I adopted the personae of 'Suzy Peau de Soie' as a vehicle to highlight the constructedness of such reinventions of self. These characterizations indicated that I could indeed 'pass' for younger, thus overlooking the 'problem'. Although these works held a raw energy that reverberated beneath the surface, I realised I needed to create works to critique the facade.

“In the main floor space at Paul Petro Contemporary Art the photo-installation of Peonies and the Lido intends to hold a mirror to the self as it tempts and resists the obsession with youthfulness. The opulence of double peonies holds a fascination for me. There is a rupture between the full rich blooms and the 'drooping' stems that cannot hold its beauty (the flowers' own weight) beyond its initial moment. The images shot in Venice reference mourning over beauty (from the position of aging) in Visconti's film Death in Venice juxtaposed with these opulent flowers.

“To extend possible 'moments', make-up and surgery have seemingly become necessary devices to disguise ageing. Farrah Fawcett, Madonna, Cher and others have become icons of a particular period, but they can no longer play such iconic roles. Madonna's strategy has been to reinvent herself, though she fatally puts herself at the mercy of the press. Mick Jagger is criticized for 'flogging an old horse'. What must be denied for success to continue? What mask proportionally reveals a reality, and which mask is simply a denial? Sartre raises this question in his essay on Bad Faith.

“As I adopt the forms of youth culture, I intend to deconstruct them by delaying the real effects of aging to disrupt an assumed first easy reading. The vitrine installation at Gallery 44 (Toronto) this June, Beauty At A Proper Distance in Song, uses scale and glamour lighting with coloured gels (back-lit) to reproduce lush, hip advertising effects to pace the audience's perception of a 3 month growth of facial hair and stained teeth. Beauty at a Proper Distance/Plucking is a related photo-installation that will be installed in the second floor space at Paul Petro Contemporary Art. To grow a postmenopausal beard is something that I can do that Brittany Spears can't.”