Currently in Hammond Gallery, Pink by Libby Rowe an exploration of femininity through various mediums will be on display until November 16th. We are honored to have Libby at a Performance Workshop on November 15th from 12:00 – 3:00pm and a Public Lecture in the Roundhouse November 16th from 4:00 – 5:00pm. This is a powerful show that you won’t want to miss! Closing reception will be Thursday, November 16th from 5:00 – 7:00pm in Hammond Hall.

Pink by Libby Rowe

My artistic interests reside in defining and redefining women’s issues in ways that are both informational and confrontational, and yet accessible to a diverse audience. In pink, I bring together anatomy lessons with intentionally charged imagery and text to produce a new forum of discussion on what it is to be a woman- physically, socially, and psychologically. I am intrigued by taboo subjects and the general avoidance of their mention. Individual pieces in this series are inspired by stories from women and men relating common misconceptions of the physical mechanics of their body parts, as well as my own experiences in learning how my body and my mind truly work. Other pieces encourage reflection on and reconstruction of accepted social definitions of “feminine”, “womanhood”, and “equality,” and a questioning of who is, and who should be, in control of these definitions.

The most recent work included in pink stems from my experience of regularly being addressed as “Sir” since moving to the South. I have always been a tall woman with short hair, a relatively low voice, and a confident presence. This constant questioning of my femininity leads me to explore the standards of femaleness and the gendered indoctrination systems in place during my childhood. My mother was a product of the fifties. Her mother trained her well. I see the ideals of the fifties feminine identity as an alter ego of sorts to my own feminist existence. Something went awry during my training. Where did she go wrong?

I am interested in engaging my viewer physically as well as visually with interactive installations and public performances. Through the performance of a physical act of repeated ritual, as in practicing perfect posture or styling the perfect hairstyle, the viewer engages more deeply in the work as well as the ideas behind the work. Each piece changes as the number of participants grows, with the addition of comments, reactions, impressions, or artifacts. Their interaction completes each piece.

Bio

Libby Rowe is an artist working in photography, sculpture, interactive installation, and performance. Her artwork explores ideas of identity and belonging through self-definitions as informed by social and domestic constructs.  Rowe is interested in breaking from traditional presentation strategies for photographs to engage viewers in a more interactive experience as well as the role of the photographic image in relation to other media. Through pink, Rowe explores the sociological, physiological and psychological aspects of femininity using image, object and installations. Rowe’s performances were included in the Vertigo Performance Series at the Waterloo Center for the Arts and Fountain Art Fair New York in 2014, and in the Changeful Performance event at Ortega y Gasset Projects in Brooklyn, New York in 2016.  Rowe’s current photographic series, Inside/Out and the installation (sub)Division were recently exhibited together at United Photo Industries in Brooklyn New York and were exhibited with Like Panes of Glass at Morlan Gallery in Lexington, KY.

Rowe received her BFA from the University of Northern Iowa and her MFA from Syracuse University. She resides and works in San Antonio, Texas.

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