Not Barbie: A Celebration of Real Women
This show is now closed. If you'd like to read about it, please check out the following articles:
“REAL
WOMEN: Exhibit Focuses on Beauty and Body Image”, by Celia Wren, Richmond Times
Dispatch,
Sept 12
“Exhibit Reveals More Than Just Skin”,
by Alix Bryan, Richmond.com, Sept 21
“Naked Truth: Susan Singer’s ‘Not Barbie’ lets it all hang out at Crossroads Art Center”,
by Julie Geen, Style Weekly,
Sept 13
“Body Work”,
Richmond Magazine, by Anne Dryfuss,
Sept
“Beyond Barbie – Caught in a Fun House Mirror”,
by Matt Wetsel, RVAMag, Nov 2
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Information about Not Barbie:
In her provocative show Not Barbie: A Celebration of Real Women, Susan Singer took on society's version of the "perfect" woman, as exemplified by Mattel's Barbie doll.
Singer paints extraordinary female nudes, but not as they appear in the Gos
pel according to Madison Ave. Instead of fitting the current societal requirements for beauty, Singer's women are as they are: gorgeous precisely because they have the courage to be real. One of her models weighs 270 pounds and shows us just how beautiful she knows she is as she stands proudly before us. Another strides off the stage which is the canvas, wearing her red high heels, compelling us to follow her. Of one woman, all that can be seen is a tangle of arms and legs and belly, glowing from within, leaving us in awe of her radiance. A 91-year-old dancer shares with us the joy she feels at being alive.
Birth, aging, pregnancy, middle age, scars, elective surgeries - all these topics and many more were covered on Singer's canvases and in the stories the models wrote to accompany each painting. Viewers to her exhibition left feeling they were privy to an intimate glimpse into each of these women's lives. They came away from this deep, rich experience knowing more of what it is to be female and enriched for having taken the journey.
The Opening for Not Barbie: A Celebration of Real Women took place Friday, September 16th from 6:00 – 9:30 PM at Crossroads Art Center at 2016 Staples Mill Road in Richmond. Singer will gave a Gallery Talk at 5:30 PM for those interested in learning more about her art, her process, and her self. The show ran through November 7, 2011.
Building on the momentum from her show, and wanting to give women ideas for moving beyond Barbie, Singer organized a series of performances and lectures about issues important to women today: Beyond Barbie: Piecing Together Today’s Woman. Many of the presenters were be Singer's models because, serendipitously, most of her models are performers or otherwise leaders in their fields. The series took place Thursday evenings from Sept 22 - Nov 3 from 7 - 9 PM at Crossroads Art Center.