Caldwell Snyder Gallery
341 Sutter Street, San Francisco, CA 94108
Contact: Christina Maybaum
Hours: Open Monday-Saturday 10 AM - 6 PM
(415)392-2299
Jane Maxwell explores our culture’s fascination with beauty and perfection in her new series of collage assemblages. Her female blueprints serve as icons of timeless beauty but also subvert this concept by appearing as mere silhouettes. Maxwell seeks to create work that grapples with our societies construction of beauty, a reality that is often unattainable for many and drives some to extreme ends.
Hollywood is one place were this absurd dynamic often manifests, and trickles down to the rest of society. She dedicates a portion of her show to a new series called “Vintage Hollywood”. Inspired by the seemingly flawless actresses who grace classic movie posters from the 40’s and 50’s. Fascinated by these images, Maxwell collected hundreds of fading, original posters, pulling images and text to create layers of collage on wood panels. The women she features are highlighted in their iconic beauty, juxtaposed with spare, outlines of feminine silhouettes. Maxwell seeks to deconstruct the female form; stripping away her face, dress, and hair alluding to the core of beauty- within.
Beyond the female form, Maxwell’s collages are packed with imagery from media and popular culture- doll like cutouts made up of vintage produce labels, advertising and signs juxtapose her forms. The messages of commercial culture are thrusts into the spot light, sometimes displacing the very forms they embody. Her work poses questions about the nature of woman and that of our cultural constructs. Do we construct them or do they construct us?
Layering image upon image she applies a beeswax mixture to the paper forms, which allow the images to appear translucent, revealing the collage below. The works are finished with a high gloss resin finish, a contemporary touch added to her cleverly constructed designs.
Jane Maxwell- Recent Works June 2010 Caldwell Snyder 341 Sutter Street, San Francisco, CA 94108. For more information, high-resolution images or a press kit, please contact Christina Maybaum | Christina@caldwellsnyder.com or call 415.392.2299 | www.caldwellsnyder.com