March 5, 2023
Contact: Ann-Marie Stillion at studio@arttrek.com for interviews and more information and hi-res photos.
PHOTOGRAPHER ANN-MARIE STILLION CHALLENGES THE STIGMA OF MALE NUDITY
“Bound” a limited edition photograph by Ann-Marie Stillion, part of the new photography works at CORE Gallery which opens on March 29 and runs through April 29 in Seattle’s Pioneer Square. © 2023 Ann-Marie Stillion / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, Seattle, WA – Core Gallery is proud to present Bound, a solo exhibition by 2023 CORE artist Ann-Marie Stillion. The exhibition will open on Wednesday, March 29, 2023, with a public reception from 5:00 to 8:00 PM at CORE Gallery, located at 117 Prefontaine Place, Seattle, WA 98116. The exhibition will be on view Wednesday through Saturday until April 29, 2023.
Stillion will present two interactive opportunities for the public to engage with her about the exhibition beyond the public reception. The first event, at CORE Gallery on March 31 from 7:00 to 9:00 PM, is an exclusive and intimate conversation between Stillion and Beverly Aarons, writer and founder of Artists Up Close. This will be a lively conversation and attendees are encouraged to come ready to engage and discuss why men’s bodies are under wraps and what impact this has on society.
Tickets for March 31 are $25. Seating is limited. Visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/discussion-photographer-ann-marie-stillion-challenges-male-nudity-stigma-tickets-565836942527 for more information and to reserve your seat. Press may contact studio@arttrek.com for a free entry, seating is limited.
The second opportunity is a free artist talk on April 22 from 3:00 to 5:00 PM. This event is open to the public and attendees will have an opportunity to talk with the artist and discuss how the art began as a series responding to censorship, whether in social media, exhibition or in the world in general.
The new photography works are printed on large panels of silk and smaller, aluminum surfaces. The silk works are hung on invisible acrylic frames and come alive as they appear to float and move. The smaller works on aluminum hold enigmatic visual messaging on the subject of bodies struggling to be free of society’s constraints.
“When I started photographing the nude figure in 2013 there was little contemporary art showcasing nudity but I was not prepared for how relentlessly we have turned our backs on our own bodies, especially images of men. Women’s bodies are uncovered everywhere but when we see men we rush to cover them up, make a joke or, worse, turn away calling it porn or caging it as merely “for homosexual” viewing,” Stillion points out.
“I discovered that challenging the idealized notion of the male hero in particular – armored and invincible – and even suggesting the importance of vulnerability is a crack in the armor that many people are not prepared to confront. But I also realized just how much my work was impacting the community when one woman said to me after viewing my work ‘It’s good to see men, it’s hard to see men, it’s hard for men to see themselves.’ This is why I do what I do.”
Since 2013, the artist became interested in the human story as told by the body itself which inspired her series The Female Gaze, a photographic edition and installation, an overview of which can be found on instagram @annmariestillion. During the pandemic, she expanded her art practice to include historic photo processes and is beginning to explore artist bookmaking as well as textual performance to express the personal and political nature and sources of her work. Stillion’s perceptual studies on varied surfaces reflect abstraction and realism at once.
Ann-Marie is represented CORE Gallery in Seattle’s historic Pioneer Square District. She maintains a studio at Equinox Studios in Georgetown.
For more information about the artist and the works in the exhibition visit www.arttrek.com and www.instagram.com/annmariestillion.