FEMME DES ANNÉES 80
2022
mixed media
installation view
About
“femme des années 80” questions the construction of femininity and the various commonplace stereotypes and rules a mother, a family and society may project about what it is to be(come) a woman.
The artist takes her personal experience and her upbringing in the late 80s in a Greek family living in a Western country as a case in point. "You must always be pretty," "You must take care of your husband and your home," "You must be a good mother…” but at the same time, "You must be a strong and independent woman,” "You must stay free to do whatever you want with your body," "You must never let any man stop you…” her mother hammered these words every day to shape her into the ideal woman she wanted her to become.
In “femme des années 80,” Kosmatopoulos turns each of these sometimes conflicting rules into a sculpture. Each piece works as an assemblage of found objects that together tell one story of what a woman should be in the eyes of the society of the ‘90s and beyond. All the pieces have two objects as a common thread that both represent femininity in the collective consciousness; the first is a bra, an article of clothing that shapes the uniqueness of each woman's breast into a standard "half apple" form. The second is a vase, that on the contrary, is shaped like a simplified form of a woman’s body.
Exhibition
"you are so pretty with your polka dot dress" (Venus)
2022
ceramic, fabric, shell, steel, bids
"you will see when you will become a mother" (Mary)
2022
ceramic, fabric, wool, steel, albacor, feathers
you will not always be young and beautiful (the Biological Clock)
2022
ceramic, fabric, bricks, steel, plastic, feathers
like mother like daughter (the chicken and the egg)
2022
ceramic, fabric, steel, plastic, wire, feather, albacore, cyanotype print on paper
you must shine everywhere you go
2022
ceramic, fabric, wood, mirror, feather, metal
how will you ever be able to take care of a house and a man? (Cinderella)
2022
ceramic, fabric, steel
they just want one thing from you (the First Time)
2022
ceramic, fabric, steel, glass, horn
always, make them wait (caramels, bonbons et chocolats)
2022
ceramic, fabric, bronze, artificial flower, electric piano
you don't want to end up like your grandmother (Family Tree)
2022
ceramic, fabric, steel, wood, tule, paper
don't ever let a man tell you what to do (Marianne)
2022
ceramic, fabric, steel, wood, concrete
the real beauty comes from the inside (Simone)
2022
ceramic, fabric, plastic, concrete