Beauties 1981

Curator: Brian Clarke's screenprint, "Beauties," is a striking grid of women's portraits, each bisected by a bold black cross. What do you make of it? Editor: Initially, I'm struck by the overwhelming sense of… constraint. The rigid grid, the harsh yellow background, and those defacing crosses create a powerful, almost violent feeling. Curator: Indeed. The cross, universally recognized, here clashes with our understanding of the female form as something to be revered, or even simply appreciated. Editor: And that's precisely where the tension lies. Who decided these women needed to be "crossed out?" The title, "Beauties," feels ironic in this context. Is it a commentary on the objectification and simultaneous erasure of women in media? Curator: Perhaps Clarke is exploring the societal imposition of values onto images. We're so conditioned to see beauty, yet here it's deliberately marred, forcing us to confront our own gaze. Editor: It's a stark reminder that even representations of beauty are never neutral; they're always shaped by power dynamics and historical baggage. Curator: A potent commentary on the way we consume images, still so relevant today. Editor: Absolutely. It forces us to question what we value, and why.