Marcy B. Freedman, French Macaroons (aka Duchamp Macarons), 2017
Marcy B. Freedman is a dynamo. An artist and art historian, she brings to her work the mind of an academic investigator, insatiably asking questions and sleuthing for answers. Fueled by her playful, feminist perspective, Marcy first observes, then ponders, then creates, and finally prods us into responding. There is no right or wrong reaction; she only asks for interaction. Self-aware in this fully drenched digital atmosphere, she asks us to pause from the phone to pay attention. Case in point:
Marcy B. Freedman, Breast Implant Series: Titian, 2017
Marcy too has been an inspiration for Bosom Bodies based on the French Macaroons digital collage she showed me a few months ago. We talked about a "breast" show for Breast Cancer Awareness month and then she mentioned looking for a gallery in Peekskill, where she has her studio. She introduced me to Nadine Gordon-Taylor, whose work is in Bosom Bodies and who owns SIA Gallery, Nadine graciously offered to donate her gallery to our project. We were off and running from that moment on. Not only would Marcy exhibit her "Duchamp Macarons" (based on Marcel Duchamp's Please Touch), but also a new series inspired by art history's masters (men) whose fame depends - to some extend - on their sensuous renderings of the female nude. But that's not the point of her work. She asks us "What would we think of men who had breast implants?" Her digital ruminations are hilarious - and can be yours, if you purchase her limited postcard series or one of the unique works made exclusively for the show. Marcy will also present her performance piece:
Marcy has boundless energy in so many directions. So many that I fear she will add to her schedule one more performance or exhibition by the end of today. (I am typing quickly to keep up. In the future, please check her website or, better, come to her performance at Bosom Bodies so that she will personally add you to her snail-mailing list.) In addition to her participation in Bosom Bodies, Marcy curated the annual outdoor performances on Saunder's Farm over the Labor Day Weekend, in conjunction with Collaborative Concepts and performed at Hammond Museum and Japanese Stroll Gardens also in September.
This past Saturday, September 22nd, Marcy installed 24 large series of digital prints called FemFlora: Images for a World in which Women and Plants Flourish at Echo, at 470 Main St. in Beacon as part of “Windows on Main Street,” through Nov. 12th.
On October 1st, she will perform on the Staten Island Ferry as part of this year’s Apres Avant Garde Festival, hosted by Day de Dada, the Staten Island Performance Art Collective. Dressed as the Statue of Liberty, she will present “How Strong is Our Democracy Now?” She tells us the event will serve as a follow-up of sorts to her interactive work, “TRUE of FALSE: We are at a crucial point in the history of the USA,” offered in August at the opening reception of “RADIUS 50” at Woodstock Artists Association and Museum
And on November 12th, Marcy will perform “What the heck is performance art and why should anyone care?” for Talking Arts Foundation in Yorktown. “I will strive to educate and entertain the members of my audience with several re-enactments of famous performance art pieces from the past along with a couple of new solo performances of my own. It will be exciting to put my personal work into an art historical context.”
She is also featured in this month's Westchester Wag magazine blog: "Marcy B. Freedman's Got a Full Plate"
Her video interview on Jackie Suarez's Lively Arts recounts her story from art historian to artist and includes more examples of her work.
Bosom Bodes is a New York Arts Exchange project, curated by Beth S. Gersh-Nesic, director and owner of NYAE. For more information, please write to Beth at nyarts.exchange.com or visit our website: www.nyarts-exchange.com
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