About
Martine Gutierrez, New York-based photographer, performance and video artist, joins Public Art Fund Associate Curator Katerina Stathopoulou on December 2 for a conversation on the occasion of her first public art exhibition, ANTI-ICON.
The exhibition of newly commissioned photographs extends Gutierrez’ exploration of identity across the cultural landscapes of gender, race, class, and celebrity. In ten new works, she has transformed herself into a multitude of roles, reinterpreting a diverse canon of radical historical and mythological figures. Through each metamorphosis, Gutierrez embodies the spirit of heroines who have achieved legendary status across cultures, over thousands of years, in both art history and popular culture. Gutierrez is the sole performer, portraying ten groundbreaking idols: Aphrodite, Atargatis, Cleopatra, Queen Elizabeth I, Gabriel, Lady Godiva, Helen of Troy, Judith, Mulan, and Queen of Sheba. Each is renowned for their resilience, leadership, courage, and influence. To Gutierrez, these attributes are influential expectations of the LGBTQ+ community, with which she identifies. Merging the language of luxury advertising with a DIY aesthetic, ANTI-ICON was exhibited on 300 JCDecaux bus shelters across New York, Chicago, and Boston—spaces used for advertising—the larger-than-life portraits were encountered on walks or daily commutes.
This artist talk will delve into Gutierrez’s artistic practice and the process through which she reimagined herself using simple props and disguises to create ANTI-ICON.
Ways to Watch:
Virtually
Register to receive a link and watch the program live streamed.
In person at The Cooper Union’s Frederick P. Rose Auditorium
Registration is required, and capacity is limited. Attendees must show proof of vaccination, wear a mask, and adhere to COVID-19 guidelines.
Public Art Fund Talks are presented in partnership with The Cooper Union
Gallery
About the Artist
Martine Gutierrez (b. 1989) is an artist, performer, writer and musician who constructs elaborate narrative scenes to subvert pop cultural tropes in the exploration of identity, both personal and collective intersectional to race, gender, class, indigeneity and culture. Her amass of media—ranging from billboards and episodic films to music videos and renowned magazine, Indigenous Woman—produce the very conduits of advertising that sell the identities she disassembles. Gutierrez hybridizes the industry’s objectification of sex with the individual’s pursuit of self, satirically undermining the aesthetics of what we know. While she manufactures ‘celebrity’ to pass as multinational corporations, it is Gutierrez herself who executes every role—simultaneously acting as subject, artist and muse.
Gutierrez received her BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2012. She is also a published musician and has produced several commercial videos. Gutierrez lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.
About the Talks
Public Art Fund Talks, organized in collaboration with The Cooper Union, connect compelling contemporary artists to a broad public by establishing a dialogue about artistic practices and public art. The Talks series feature internationally renowned artists who offer insights into artmaking and its personal, social, and cultural contexts. The core values of creative expression and democratic access to culture and learning shared by both Public Art Fund and The Cooper Union are embodied in this ongoing collaboration. In the spirit of accessibility to the broadest and most diverse public, the Talks are offered free of charge.
Public Art Fund Talks are made possible in part by Con Edison and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, as well as by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
Public Art Fund is supported by the generosity of individuals, corporations, and private foundations including lead support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, along with major support from Abrams Foundation, the Charina Endowment Fund, the Joseph and Joan Cullman Foundation for the Arts, The Fuhrman Family Foundation, The Marc Haas Foundation, Hartfield Foundation, William Talbott Hillman Foundation-Affirmation Arts Fund, the Donald A. Pels Charitable Trust, Red Crane Foundation, and The Silverweed Foundation.
