Still Standing: a solo exhibition by Lauren Rinaldi

Paradigm Gallery + Studio is pleased to announce two concurrent exhibitions: Still Standing, a solo show by Lauren Rinaldi, and Still Talking About It, a group exhibition of new works by Danielle Clough, Andrea Farina, and Suzanna Scott. On view from July 27, 2018 until September 15, 2018, Still Standing is a focused solo presentation of oil self-portraits, marking a continuation of Rinaldi’s representation of the female form through a personal lens. Still Talking About It, the group exhibition, brings together the works of Clough, Farina and Scott to explore the diversity of women’s collective experiences. Together, these distinct exhibitions explore the personal and universal struggles women face in today’s society.
Still Standing includes twenty-four large and small scale paintings by Lauren Rinaldi. Rinaldi’s delicate brushstrokes and soft coloration do not mask the strength embedded in the portraiture. Most of the works in Still Standing are sourced stills from videos that Rinaldi takes of herself as she gets ready in the morning. These videos act as a basis for her work and help her convey the natural movement often missing from depictions of the female form. While Rinaldi’s portraits are modeled after her own body, they communicate stories of universal importance in our contemporary moment. Focusing closely on particular regions of the body––legs, heads, torsos––Rinaldi detaches the image from the self-portrait, instead offering psychological representations that manifest societal pressures that affect her as a woman, particularly as an artist, mother and civic leader. “These works deal with ideas about what it means to be a woman: the different roles we play, the different stages in our life, the different archetypes that are required of us and the different ways that we are expected to be. Not only expectations that are put on us, but our own expectations that we put on ourselves.” Rinaldi states.

Also located in the gallery, Still Talking About It, a group exhibition of new works by Danielle Clough, Andrea Farina and Suzanna Scott, showcases the various ways in which contemporary textile art is used to represent the female form. All three artists use their work to explore inclusive ideas of womanhood and feminine identity. Clough’s stylized needlework begins with found vintage images of playboy models. Through her colorful, textured approach and layered dimension, she diverts these images’ original purpose by giving them a new space. Farina’s delicate embroidery on fabric depicts the female form from a more ambiguous approach. The thoughtful subtraction of identifying details creates a more universal figure. Finally, Scott brings twelve new sculptures to Still Talking About It as a part of her Coin Cunts series that she began in 2015. Found vintage silk and vinyl coin purses are turned inside-out and stitched to allude to the female anatomy. When discussing the series, Scott says, “A tease to the imagination, these transposed objects challenge our visual and cultural associations of women, money, and power." The series is meant to raise awareness about the social, political, and economic plights of women globally through the powerful imagery.

“We’ve organized Still Standing and Still Talking About It with these artists as a way to encourage a conversation that embraces women fully and without judgement. When we talk about the issues that the exhibitions revolve around, objectification, expectation, and inequality, we can find ourselves needing to take a deep breath and a step back. Exhaustion is involved, for sure, but these problems are important and we need to keep talking about them with strength behind our convictions,” says Gallery Co-Founder Sara McCorriston.