Claudia DeMonte: Real Beauty, an Exhibit at Webster' Hunt Gallery

Excerpt from Artist's Statement:

For centuries, women around the world have made dolls as toys for their children. Using buttons, wool, rags, and thread, they have created unique, stylized individuals, each expressing a distinctive character, personality, or expression, and each representing a standard of beauty reflective of the maker’s culture.

When a mother makes a doll as a toy for her child, it is an expression of her love as well as her perception of the female’s place in society. It may be a doll fashioned after a specific person; it may be a fairy-tale doll. In any case, the creator of a doll is revealing much about herself in the context of her larger culture.

For the last thirty years my work has dealt with the roles of women in contemporary society. This work has evolved from single sculptures to installations of as many as 175 pieces. Because of America’s obsession with beauty and my own interest in the issues of beauty and women’s self perceptions, I have developed this complex installation of dolls from over eighty countries from all corners of the earth. Included are dolls created by contemporary artists and “found” dolls by unknown makers. The juxtaposition of the old and new can inspire and inform our perceptions of cultural beauty. And, in our media-obsessed world, where personalities of the week get more news time than starvation and war, the handmade doll seems to evoke not only a simpler time but a time more in tune with what is truly important.

Financial assistance for this exhibition has been provided by the  Missouri Arts Council, a state agency, and with support from the  Regional Arts Commission.

When:
Friday, Jan. 21- Sat. Feb. 26, 2011
Opening reception: Friday, Jan. 21st, from 6-8 p.m.
Gallery Hours: Tuesday - Saturday 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. or by appointment

Where:
Cecille R. Hunt Gallery
Visual Arts Studio, Webster University
8342 Big Bend Blvd.

Cost:
Exhibit and reception are free and open to the public.

More Info:
Contact 314.968.7957 or robertvogt60@webster.edu

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