For the INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY on Friday, March 8th 2019 the finissage of the exhibition boobs – We Show Breasts! will take place from 6 pm at KARL OSKAR GALLERY. The exhibition was curated by Britta Helbig and Saralisa Volm.
Image above: Camila Gonzalez Corea – Nipple Act 2
Bounce. Flaccid. Small. Big. Furrowed. Beloved. Kneaded. Pinched. Filled with milk, silicone or expectations. We are not born with her, but she makes us a woman: the female breast. A sexual characteristic that is supposed to attract the male. A glandular tissue that serves to raise the offspring and yet so much more.
The female breast is a source of life and a source of indignation. This contradiction is particularly evident in art: from the very beginning, the exposed breast was an important motif of artistic creation, to be found in Egyptian pyramids, Indian drawings, Greek statues and Christian churches. It found its way into almost every style of every epoch. And again and again she was censored. From the religions, the politics, the powerful or today from the social media. Instagram and Facebook forbid the depiction of the nipple. Works of art that attract attention in museums worldwide violate the community standards of social networks and are deleted. At the same time, women are repeatedly forbidden to breastfeed their children in public, while a life-size poster of a half-naked woman can be seen on every street corner.
We believe it is time to liberate the breast and take it for what it is: part of our body, identifying feature and projection screen that can hang, stand, sit and fall out of the blouse everywhere. We don’t want to focus on the standard breast, which moves through the works of Rembrandt to Jeff Koons in a white-skinned and well-formed way with its image and has penetrated every corner of our museums and lives through modern photography. On the contrary. With the help of selected artistic positions we approach the phenomenon of the breast in its entire range and find a place for every form, colour and task. From ‘Free the Nipple’ to mastectomy following a diagnosis of breast cancer, the works of the approximately 15 artists from the fields of sculpture, photography, painting and video are reflected. Among them Aleah Chapin, Eva & Adele, Julija Goyd, Annique Delphine, GODsDOGs and Kennet Lekko.
It is about the empowerment of women, mothers and breast wearers. We explore the natural approach to our body without rejecting artificial options. We trace fates without denying the joy of the breast. We celebrate the breastfeeding mother and the artificially built alternative for women after a sex change. We make room for diversity. We give the breast the space it deserves.
The exhibition ‘bOObs – We Show Breast’ thematically follows on from the show ‘bitch MATERial’, also curated by Britta Helbig and Saralisa Volm, which had set itself the task of discarding outdated maternal clichés and giving parents new freedom; in life, but above all in art. bOObs – We show breast’ picks up this thread and unravels a secure net that celebrates breasts in all their diversity. The aim is to encourage and show a natural and positive approach to the female body, far away from standardisations, role clichés, sexist ideas and classical beauty ideals.
The question is: do our breasts, as they really are, have a place in art? We answer them with a clear one: Yes – absolutely!
WHEN?
boobs – We Show Breasts: FINISSAGE
Friday, March 8th 2019, 6 – 10 pm (International Women’s Day)
WHERE?
KARL OSKAR GALLERY
Burgemeister Straße 4
12099 Berlin-Tempelhof
