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In the second newsletter of every month, I offer a review of an art exhibition I’ve seen or an art book I’ve read. This week I write about Seattle artist, Shima Star.
I’ve recently been reading Silvia Federici’s seminal works, Revolution at Point Zero: Housework, Reproduction, and Feminist Struggle, and in particular, studying her famous essay, Wages Against Housework, written in 1975 but still relevant today. So it was with Silvia’s words ringing in my head that I went to view the vibrant, feminist works of Seattle artist, Shima Star.
When we struggle for wages for housework we struggle unambiguously and directly against our social role. [It] makes our work visible.
Silvia Federici
Shima Star’s work is gloriously visible: It’s a breath of fresh air in a city that is predominantly obsessed with neutral-toned interiors and Abstract Expressionism. Her multi-colored acrylic paintings sing out from the walls telling stories of body autonomy, resistance, and power, inviting the viewer “to celebrate the female body while confronting the harsh realities women face.”
Shima Star’s abstractions of female anatomy draw inspiration from Courbet’s famous, often debated painting, “Origin of the World”, which depicts a woman’s body from the waist down with vagina fully in view; thighs, arms, and head out of the picture. However, whereas Courbet’s painting has been criticized by some as an erotic, even pornographic (social media companies tried to censor it) image, painted through and for a male gaze, Shima’s representations of the female body are so abstracted that they can be viewed as symbols of womanhood - as diverse as the color palettes. Sometimes merging into landscapes, sometimes appearing to be Venus figurines, the women in Shima’s paintings are painted with precision and the same level of focused control that is often exerted on women’s bodies around the world.
Shima is an expert colorist and her love of the painting process - no tape used, everything is freehand - shines through her work. She plays with the color wheel like it’s her favorite toy: analogous and complimentary color schemes bump up against each other to produce interesting counterpoints within the exhibition as a whole.
Born in England, now based in Seattle, Shima Star’s own art journey reflects, as stated in her website, her “diasporic heritage which traces its lineage from Africa to Gujrat India”. Her art practice centers around the question of what a woman of color looks like and in this exhibition Shima literally offers women of all colors on the canvas, inviting the viewer to engage in “the discourse surrounding autonomy, gender equality, and the celebration of women’s bodies.”
Silvia Federici’s writing continually stresses the “radical perspective” that women must refuse the role that has been created for them in the capitalist system. In Shima Star’s work, I sense an artist who is also refusing the role that was created for her and is carving out her own brightly tinted path in the art world. Her work may be ‘Too Controversial’ (the exhibition title) for those galleries who are too scared to exhibit anything other than vanilla, can’t-offend-anyone wall decor, but they’re not galleries I would frequent. Shima’s art is highly relevant, visually powerful, and vibrates with energy. If you’re in Seattle this month, I highly recommend you visit.
View ‘Too Controversial’ by Shima Star
Studio 103, TK Lofts, Pioneer Square, Seattle
Closing Reception Saturday, September 30th, 4-8pm
Until next time.
JC
RESOURCES
View Shima Star’s website HERE
Follow Shima on Instagram
Read Silvia Federici’s work:
4. This is a great article in the NY Times about how lockdown revealed the exploitation of women’s labour & it contains an interview with Silvia:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/17/magazine/waged-housework.html
5. On my reading list:
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Thank you for sharing Shima's work - it's so good! Am glad she was able to showcase them somewhere in Seattle. My guess is that's why abstract art is so popular nowadays because the storytelling isn't always in plain view. Shima's work cannot be perceived as ambiguous. It tells you straightaway the message. Love!