Man Alive

Jablonka Maruani Mercier Gallery is pleased to present the group exhibition Man Alive, curated by gallery artist Wendy White. The exhibition includes works by Nina Chanel Abney, Judith Bernstein, Jordan Casteel, Rosson Crow, Rochelle Feinstein, Keltie Ferris, Joanne Greenbaum, Liz Markus, Marilyn Minter, Nathlie Provosty, Ruth Root, Pat Steir, Kaari Upson, Wendy White, Sue Williams, Brenna Youngblood, Lisa Yuskavage, and Julia Wachtel.

All of the artists in Man Alive break rules that are meant to be broken yet seldom are. Judith Bernstein’s paintings of male and female genitalia, displayed under black light, are, in her words, feminist with a capital “F.” Marilyn Minter, once shunned by the art world for being “too explicit,” deals out a warrior’s critique of representation, consumption, and taste. Rosson Crow merges art and fashion seamlessly in paintings that seem to disembowel canonized history painting with raw, expressive candor. The ever- controversial Lisa Yuskavage has always ridden a delicate line between soft-core depiction and hard-core provocation. The bold, raucous paintings of Nina Chanel Abney approach subjects such as police brutality head-on, turning white, male-dominated art historical tropes inside out and upside down.

The exhibition takes its title from a phrase originating in the 1800s as an expression of shock or surprise, perhaps indicating that men at sea had found a shipwreck survivor. The artists in Man Alive are drawn together not only by the politics inherent in their work, or activism in their personal life, but also by the stand-alone impact of what they choose to make. They refuse to settle, refuse to be quiet, refuse to make nice.

Man Alive will be accompanied by a hardcover catalog with an essay by Wendy White.