Artists & Curators

Artist: Melissa Ichiuji

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Exhibit Dates

August 30 – December 6, 2013

Reception Date

September 25, 2013

Description

Schmucker Art Gallery is pleased to share an exhibition of sculpture by nationally and internationally recognized artist Melissa Ichiuji. Ichiuji was voted one of the top 100 Washington, DC artists in 2012; her work is political, sometimes controversial, and always suggestive of power, violence, and mortality. Ichiuji’s sculptures are sewn and assembled using a combination of natural and synthetic materials such as leather, latex, dried fruit, bones, human hair, fur and pantyhose. While much of her fantastical figurative work is evocative of a Surrealist aesthetic, more recent sculptures take on the current political scene in Washington, DC. Portraits of Mitt Romney, Osama Bin Laden, Michelle Obama and Sarah Palin, among others, have garnered significant attention in the media for their uncanny and seemingly brutal likenesses. Ichiuji explains that the portraits reveal the “destructive erosion of media spin and public scrutiny.” Moreover, she seeks to challenge “the tradition of portraiture that elevates its subject to affirm his or her nobility, virtue and power.” The exhibition at Gettysburg College was an installation of Ichiuji’s newest series of works, a theatrical and engaging examination of politics, portraiture, and popular culture.

See the full exhibit catalog here.

Document Type

Image

Keywords

Melissa Ichiuji, sculpture, In the Flesh, human figure

 
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