January 14, 2020 – April 11, 2020 [closed to public March 17 – April 11 due to COVID 19]
Toronto-based artist Sara Golish questions the symbolism of conventional oil portraiture through a lens of eco-feminism by depicting traditionally oppressed bodies with dignity and grace in her Birds of Paradise series. Golish breathes new life into the traditional canon of early modern portraiture, where affluent women were presented in ways that spoke more to men’s accumulation of wealth and status than to any representation of their own identities. If women of color appeared, they were rendered as servants and exotic curiosities to demonstrate the imperial reach of aristocratic power and wealth. Birds of Paradise is about liberating not just the subject from the patriarchal grasp, but also the form, techniques and materials from their historical usage and symbolism. Golish fills her portraits with ethnically diverse female subjects in bold colors, as well as exotic birds and plants that symbolize strength through adversity and fortitude of spirit.
the work:
© 2016 Franklin G. Burroughs • Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum
Myrtle Beach’s Franklin G. Burroughs-Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum strives to be one of the finest visual arts museums in the Carolinas. With 11 galleries that change throughout the year, Myrtle Beach’s only art museum offers exhibitions featuring paintings, textiles, sculpture, photography, video, ceramics, assemblage, collage and more. A visit to the Art Museum’s exhibitions can be enhanced by its lively programming, including artist receptions, tours, lectures, workshops and classes for both adults and children.
