"Female gaze on sexuality and femininity"
Artists: Ilina Schileru și Virginia Lupu
Curator: Sorin Florea
June - July 2023
About the exhibition:
Ilina Schileru & Virginia Lupu developed, over the course of their artistic residencies at CdRF, two subjective, yet complementary perspectives that illustrate possible stances regarding the theme of sexualization, be it either conscious or not. These perspectives direct the gaze and question the complex ecosystem of power dynamics, gender violence and gender stereotypes and of cultural, social or political influences that lead to the internalisation and perpetuation of toxic views reinforced by an obsolete patriarchal system. Their works function as two magnifiers looking at the preconceptions and unrealistic ideas about sex, sexuality and love and propose questions which can never find a simple, unique answer.
About the artists:
Ilina Schileru has been documenting issues such as gender equality and the rights of women and domestic workers in a rural area not far from a former industrial city in southeastern Romania for twenty years.
“In my artistic practice I use various media, from drawing to painting, photography and video to neon installations, approaching topics around social hierarchies through a visual aesthetic vocabulary, sometimes integrating a participatory component from the audience.
The CDRF residency was an opportunity to highlight how women are perceived and, most importantly, how they perceive themselves in a still deeply patriarchal environment.”
Virginia Lupu proposes a series of portraits of women from a completely different area - that of BDSM sex workers, who practice the activity of Mistress/Dominatrix.
"I have integrated a safe and consensual way to explore difficult emotions; BDSM activities and fetish exploration allow both parties (both dominant and submissive) to regain their relationship with their bodies and their own sexuality in a liberating and responsible way."
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