The Delicate Things That Girls Do

About

signs and symbols is delighted to present THE DELICATE THINGS THAT GIRLS DO, a group exhibition featuring artists Rachael Catharine Anderson, Sarah Anderson, Shaqayeq Arabi, Annabel Daou, Ornella Fieres, Karen Finley, Jeewi Lee, Rachel Libeskind, Linder, Pola Sieverding and Ann Weathersby.

Taking its title and inspiration from a pastel pink poster in Jenny Holzer's incisive series Inflammatory Essays (1979–1982), the exhibition brings together eleven women artists spanning multiple generations, nationalities and mediums of choice. Whether embracing, rejecting, ignoring or inverting the gendered expectations they face, each participant offers an answer to the question of what it means to be a woman, an artist and both at the same time.

A REAL TORTURE WOULD BE TO
BUILD A SPARKLING CAGE WITH
2-WAY MIRRORS AND STEEL BARS.
IN THERE WOULD BE GOOD-LOOKING
AND YOUNG GIRLS WHO’LL THINK
THEY’RE IN A REGULAR MOTEL
ROOM SO THEY’LL TAKE THEIR
CLOTHES OFF AND DO THE
DELICATE THINGS THAT GIRLS DO
WHEN THEY’RE SURE THEY'RE
ALONE. EVERYONE WHO WATCHES
WILL GO CRAZY BECAUSE THEY
WON’T BE BELIEVING WHAT THEY’RE
SEEING BUT THEY’LL SEE THE BARS
AND KNOW THEY CAN’T GET IN.
AND, THEY’LL BE AFRAID TO
MAKE A MOVE BECAUSE THEY DON’T
WANT TO SCARE THE GIRLS AWAY
FROM DOING THE DELICIOUS
THINGS THEY’RE DOING.

—Jenny Holzer
Untitled (A Real Torture Would…), from Inflammatory Essays, 1979–1982
 

participating artists include:
rachael catharine anderson | sarah anderson | shaqayeq arabi | annabel daou | ornella fieres | karen finley | jeewi lee | rachel libeskind | linder | pola sieverding | ann weathersby