Exploring Femininity Within the White Cube: Angela Grossman at Equinox Gallery, Vancouver (2022)

The subject has her back facing toward us and cannot see the viewer, but the viewer is given full sight to her figure. Here lies the disparity of seeing and being seen, and the power held by the viewer over the subject.

In this essay I review Angela Grossmann’s exhibition at the Equinox gallery titled With Themselves, and expand on the artist’s definition of femininity as portrayed by her paintings. In doing so I reference the exhibitions curatorial statement as well as Grossmann’s biography on the gallery website. I dissect the ways in which Grossmann’s work does the opposite of what it intends to, and excludes a big part of the audience from her dialogue on femininity. 

Angela Grossmann’s With Themselves consists of paintings of the female figure done in Oil paint on Mylar. The works fall under the genre of portraiture and most of the paintings capture the backside of the female figure, with a few of them showcasing posed frontal forms. The use of colour in this exhibition is interesting. Although it is not limited to a certain colour harmony palette, there are only six colours used; gold, silver, blue, orange, red and fluorescent pink. Perhaps the artist felt these colours signify the varying emotional states of being a woman. This is reiterated in the balance between the subject and the background. Grossmann’s brush strokes show lots of movement in the subject, possibly in an effort to convey emotional chaos. This is contrasted with the plain, untouched background. The brush strokes are ‘expressive and fluid’ (“Exhibitions”), and her choice of Mylar as a low-absorbent surface allows for these qualities to be exaggerated. When seen in person, it’s almost like the strokes of paint are bursting and ready to take over the entire composition. This is most pronounced in Tangerine and Lemon (2022), where only the slightest addition of details turns the work from looking like an accidental paint drop to a beautiful woman posing in a 3/4th profile view. 

The connotative meaning of painting a woman’s back, in my mind, reinforces the ever present male gaze that objectifies women. This is especially played out in Grossmann’s paintings as women are either naked, as seen in Little Women 10 (2022), or clothed in figure enhancing fabric, as seen in White Socks (2019). The subject has her back facing toward us and cannot see the viewer, but the viewer is given full sight to her figure. Here lies the disparity of seeing and being seen, and the power held by the viewer over the subject. It strips the subject of her agency and goes against Grossmann’s intention of separating femininity from the ‘desiring gaze’ (“Exhibitions”). The artist’s aim to showcase the varying emotions of being a woman is made clear in the following paragraph of the curatorial statement for the exhibition:

“As a woman, she is able to externalize the complexities of the desiring gaze, bringing to the fore representations of people, that not only celebrate beauty, joy, and the maternal, but also embody melancholy, introspection, as well as a subject’s own desires—in other words, unveiling the many dimensions of femininity.” (“Exhibitions”)

Grossmann’s work succeeds in capturing the aspect of isolation and helplessness humans feel. And her skills as a painter superbly express the darkness intricately tied to beauty as a woman. But the exhibition as a whole fails to include women of varying degrees of ‘femininity’, as she defines it, in the conversation. 

Grossmann’s dialogue is limited by her physical portrayal of femininity, as all the subjects in her paintings look the same and have the same body type. The messaging conveys that only those who look like the subject, and have a similar idealized body type, are valid in feeling melancholic or sad. That only those with the conventional feminine body type are appreciated, seen and celebrated by this work. With this work being housed in a gallery such as the Equinox, it speaks to a larger truth that most institutions are more accepting of femininity in a patriarchal society if it adheres to the traditional, conventional definition of femininity— as visually represented by Grossmann’s With Themselves. The exhibition as a whole equates feminine embodiment of beauty with a specific physical form. This would have been appropriate if the artist’s intention was to share her personal story and history with the body, but her aim is to ‘unveil the many dimensions of femininity’ (“Exhibitions”). The exhibition fails at meeting this aim because it tries to universalize a privileged perspective on femininity that not everyone has access to. Not everyone has the privilege to be comfortable in their bodies let alone celebrate it, and not everyone associates femininity with the physical form of a woman. 

The following is the former half of Grossmann’s curatorial statement for With Themselves:

“Expressive, fluid, and frequently elusive, Angela Grossmann’s works may be thought of as traditional portraiture, but in fact she takes the genre in new directions. While Grossmann’s depictions have a remarkable human likeness, more significantly she brings psychological insights into the representation of the female as visualised in western society. Grossmann depicts the body because she is empowered by it and familiar with it—through observations, memories, and lived experience—and has now been addressing it in her studio practice for over four decades.” (“Exhibitions”)

Grossmann’s use of the body to embody femininity is problematic for more than just the reason of women feeling insecure about their bodies. In using the female figure to repetitively symbolize femininity, the exhibition excludes a group of people who have already been ostracized by society for far too long. Transgender women, especially those who are not in the position to have gender confirmation surgery for various reasons, may struggle to find their place within this dialogue. The following quote is from Grossmann’s Artist Biography on the gallery website:

“Grossmann’s vast exploration into the representation of the body not only activates the spaces between societal and individual human experience, but it also reveals her deep engagement with the sensual and unpredictable nature of the artistic process itself.” (“Artists”)

I don’t fully agree that this work does much other than convey one woman's story with her body and how she perceives femininity. I would not term Grossmann’s exploration of the body (within the exhibition) as ‘vast’ nor would I agree that it relates to a large population of women to successfully ‘activate the spaces within societal and individual human experience’. This is echoed by the artworks themselves that blend into one another, seeming like the same painting in different colours. 

To conclude, Grossmann’s With Themselves shows skillful mastery over the materials used, and portrays a good range of emotions within the many paintings displayed. Unfortunately, even though the exhibition aims to celebrate femininity, the art seems to be aimed at a very specific and narrow audience who act as a mould for the pre-existing, conventional norms of feminine beauty. 

In today’s socio-political climate where there is more than enough educational material easily accessible, there is no excuse to not know that certain things are harmful to vulnerable groups. The exhibition would have been successful and even an enjoyable experience if it was presented as the artist's exploration into her own femininity, rather than claiming to be representative of a universal feminine experience. 

Works Cited:

“Artists: Angela Grossmann.” Equinox Gallery, 19 Nov. 2022,          

https://www.equinoxgallery.com/our-artists/angela-grossmann/.

“Exhibitions.” Equinox Gallery, 14 June 2022, 

https://www.equinoxgallery.com/exhibitions/.