Zuckerman is part of a lineage of female artists whose work challenges the conventions of representation of women in the history of art. In previous series, she focused on “reclining women” in hedonistic and pastoral scenes. In the new body of works presented here, the emphasis is on the representation of women in scenes of violence, either directly – as in works on art-historical themes, such as the Rape of the Sabine Women, Judith and Holofernes, and St. Sebastian (who, in Zuckerman’s rendition, is a woman) – or indirectly, as in a scene based on Susanna and the Elders. Her women demand their place in the world. In almost all of them the artist’s own facial features are discernible. They are large-limbed, with gaping eyes and mouths, extroverted and grotesque, vulnerable and damaged, yet also powerful and strong. Many have a crown, and pass the torch of victory like heroines in a tragicomic drama of the history of Western culture. They all share the flickering gleam of the aura of the original, but instead of a unsullied, passive, and desirable body that is presented to the viewer as an object whose ownership provides pleasure, Zuckerman’s women are absurd and exaggerated hybrids, whose body parts are not only disproportionate, but form a wild assemblage of body details in diverse genres and styles, as a statement of presence and activism in the world.

Zuckerman, who was discovered by a New York gallery through Instagram, represents a new generation of artists who have grown up in a digital culture driven by cloud-dependent devices. Accordingly, she builds her compositions in Photoshop from parts of images that she imports, on an “outsourced” basis, through Google. After printing the new composition on canvas (archival CMYK), she hand paints the entire image, which further compounds the illusion (for instance, Cézanne-like brushstrokes over a woman’s body painted by Rubens). Through cannibalization of the styles of the past, she speaks in all languages at the same time and treats history as an inexhaustible data repository from which she draws samples to create a new collage-like entity in a virtual universe.

The exhibition is generously supported by Kravets Wehby Gallery, New York;
All works are courtesy of the artist and Kravets Wehby Gallery, New York

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