Ladies First…

Women are an interesting lot. Like Sinatra sang in South Pacific, “There is nothing like a dame.” His was a sexualized version of what it means to be a woman. In truth however, there is nothing like a dame… or, more precisely speaking, nothing like a woman. Call the species what you will… women are a breed unto themselves and they individually and collectively have been redefining their worth, stature, vulnerabilities and uniqueness for centuries.

For eons, pundits and academics – and even women themselves – have been building their myths of the female species and deconstructing them. In the process, we find ourselves redefining beauty. We hide our ages and our moles; we straighten and curl our hair; we plump and pluck; we eat and starve. We ask ourselves, is beauty partly fashion? How much of it is in the eye of the beholder? Even after The Feminine Mystique told us who we were in the sixties and Fear of Flying gave us permission to be who we wanted to be in the seventies, we as women still continue to question our place and examine our role.

ArtsWestchester asked eleven female artists to “weigh in” on the many faces of Eve. The result is an exhibition… SHE… in which these women explain in visual terms who we are, or who they think we are, or who we want to be when we grow up. Beautifully curated by Kathleen Reckling, ArtsWestchester’s Gallery Director, the exhibition opens March 15 (with an opening reception on March 13) and continues through June 25.  Along the way, there will be time and space for women and men to join the conversation… but please, ladies first.