I’m not usually a big proponent of feminist art. Before I disenfranchise half of our readers, let me explain. It’s not that I don’t appreciate its message or think it’s unnecessary, I do. With champions of any cause (be it political, religious or whatever) some are bound to be hard line militants and thus annoy me. For all of these reasons, I think Piplotti Rist’s new show Heroes of Birth at Luhring Augustine Gallery is a must see.

Although I most often hear her being referred to as a “feminist,” the career of this Swiss-based video artist fits a variety of catchall phrases. It’s true her works often deal with gender, sexuality, and the human body. This exhibition is no exception. The first of three works in the show All or Nothing is a triptych of tiny LCD screens. The displays flash a hypnotic, almost kaleidoscopic mix of imagery all derived from the human body. The viewer cannot help but oscillate between a sort of otherworldly contemplation and more corporeal sentiments. In the next room the show’s biggest installation Layers Mama Layers dominates the gallery’s main space.  Layers of semi translucent curtains stagger throughout the space. They reflect ghostlike passages of imagery typical of Rist’s current body of work. What’s not typical is the lush feel, taken to new and extreme heights.  The exhibit’s third piece, Massachusetts Chandelier takes her work into the realm of installation. Video and light projections wash over a massive sculptural chandelier constructed of secondhand underwear. The piece hangs in a room plastered with Rist-designed wallpaper.

Though these new works are a departure for the artist, they maintain and amplify everything I love about her work. All three pieces are sumptuous, inviting, and at the same time challenging. Rist lets us roam at will within her works. We discover ideas of gender, physicality, and sexuality of our own free will without being hit over the head by them. Perhaps most compelling of all is the sense of awe we feel viewing a work both inherently monumental and feminine.

Images courtesy of Luhring Augustine Gallery