What’s cooking? Gender politics.
A new art installation opening at the Brooklyn Arts Council Gallery in Dumbo on Sept. 26 features a kitchen constructed entirely out of sandpaper. The work is a political statement that uses the coarse construction material to poke fun at the outdated ideas that still surround domestic duties, according to the artist behind the work.
“This is more of a political piece that has to do with these unrealistic expectations for women to be homemakers,” said Kensington artist Traci Talasco. “We’re juggling careers and home lives but there is still this unrealistic idea that women are going to be homemakers.”
Talasco said she used sandpaper because the rough material was an unusual contrast to stereotypical feminine fabrics. The sandpaper, which will gradually wear down throughout the exhibit, represents women’s struggles against traditional gender roles, she said.
“It illustrates in a funny way this idea of women being worn out — being worn down by these expectations,” she said. “But it also metaphorically represents this idea of wearing down these gender stereotypes that don’t make sense in 2014.”
But the exhibition, titled “Rub Me the Wrong Way,” isn’t just a political statement, said Talasco. It is also a work art — and every visitor’s shoe scuff or fingerprint will leave an impact on the piece.
“It is also something, in the end, that I feel will be visually beautiful and funny,” she said.
“Rub Me the Wrong Way” opening reception at the Brooklyn Arts Council Gallery [55 Washington St. between Front and Water streets in Dumbo, (718) 625–0080, www.brooklynartscouncil.org]. Sept. 26 at 6 pm. Free. Show runs through Feb. 13.
