LUNITA-JULY DORN & RUNE MIELDS | Palazzo Bembo, Venedig

"Unapologetic WomXn", curated by Destinee Ross-Sutton, NY, 20. April - 24. November 2024, Palazzo Bembo, Venedig.

“Unapologetic WomXn”, The Dream is the Truth”, curated by Destinee Ross-Sutton, NY & Stockholm. This international group exhibition consists of 31 female artists on the subject of female sexuality through their own eyes while creating a safe space of community, allowing for more of a humanized view of anything the artists focus on; their bodies, experiences, how women navigate the world within the changes that occur in it constantly, and the importance of artists and art not conforming to the constraints of our societies. This isn’t dissimilar to the way a traditionally male dominated society has imposed and still imposes their idea of what a woman should be; art is supposed to make you feel; whether it being a sense of peace or shakes and asks you to confront your ideas, otherwise isn’t it just decoration? Are women only decoration? A mere object?

The experience of being a woman is multifaceted; there are many X-factors that basically decide what one’s experience as a woman and quality of life will most likely look like. From family and society, economic and socioeconomic factors, racial background, skin tone, zip codes, the beauty standards of one’s culture or the culture of the country you live in, politics and laws that affect your womXnhood. Rarely imposed by you, but the burden is yours to bear.
Women are and can be many things, daughters, mothers, sisters, CEOs, entrepreneurs, workers, caregivers, caretakers, providers, innovators, lovers, wives, queer, lesbian, bisexual, Christian, Muslim, atheists, Hindus, Sikhs, Catholics, Jewish, politicians, world leaders, women are loved, objectified, respected, disrespected, stoned, killed, admired, trafficked, worshipped, enslaved, oppressed, abused, used, celebrated, monetized, mourned, can be Caucasian, Black, Asian, Aboriginal, Hispanic, biracial, even multiracial, can be children, teens, adults, young or old, tall, short, skinny, obese, malnourished, healthy or not, refugees, free to travel or not, allowed to get an education or not, choose their partner or not, decide how to dress or not, their lives, gender and sexual expression, bodies and reproductive rights decided for them or not. Are women free to just “be”? One says it’s an artist’s duty to reflect the times we live in. Are women artists allowed to do so the same way as their male counterparts?

The exhibition has work by artists aged 25 to 89, emerging to established, from Greece, Germany, Uganda, Ukraine, South Africa, Sweden, India, Iran, Ukraine, USA, etc., some work specifically made for, other work lent for this exhibition, incl. from Ross-Sutton’s personal collection. Stacey Gillian Abe, Isa Andersson, Pyaar Azaadi formerly known as Jaishri Abichandani, Rita Mawuena Benissan, Alison Blickle, Gill Button, Basha Chakrabarti, Dorothea Charol, Renee Cox, Ariel Dannielle, Lunita-July Dorn, Monica Kim Garza, Vanessa German, Reihaneh Hosseini, Stella Kapezanou, Lyne Lapointe, Amani Lewis, Turiya Magadlela, Emily Manwaring, Kristina Matousch, Rune Mields, Sungi Mlengeya, Zanele Muholi, Lydia Nobles, Vanessa Raw, Paris Reid, Deborah Roberts, Georgia Theologou, Sevina Tzánou, Nadia K Waheed and Ryan Wilde.