Falling Woman\, an exhibi tion of work by Christine D’Onofrio\, features a large sca le\, looped video depicting a woman trapped in a never-ending fall.
T he fall references many art historical works and media events. From Yves K lein's photomontage farce Leap into the Void\, to the loss of control in th e humble gestures of Bas Jan Ader's falling pieces and Marilyn Monroe’s inf amous skirt blowing scene in The Seven Year Itch wherein Monroe’s famous fl irtatious gesture concealed a humiliating moment. D'Onofrio addresses the influence feminist discourse has had on her own practice and positioning\, and particularly references second wave feminist artist Ana Mendieta\, know n for her site-specific installations and performances. Mendieta attempted to retrieve the nude body from the masculine eye\; in her signature "Sileut a" series she imposed her body onto the environment with impressions of her contours\, a series that foreshadowed her untimely and suspicious death. I n Falling Woman the body continues to be a battleground of desire and explo itation. The fall represents D'Onofrio's interest in contrived depictions o f unconsciousness. The piece plays with the dream of falling interpreted as a loss of control or the feeling of fear and humiliation that comes in dre ams of being naked. The wind from the fall forces the protagonist's dress o ver her head\, which simultaneously conceals her identity and exposes her b ody\, acting as a natural yet exploitative flirtation with the camera. Cont rol and autonomy clash\, for the subject has not jumped nor has she been pu shed and she will never land\; instead she is in the midst of a continuous fall. The meeting of these moments manifest themselves in an endless subli me sky wherein we witness the woman fighting to connect with it.
Alon gside Falling Woman\, D'Onofrio will present her newest work\, Feminist Joke Book\; a 21 page\, accordion-style\, traditional letterpress boo k entitled “How many Feminists does it take to change a Lightbulb?" The bo ok reveals different punch lines to this iconic joke\, some insinuating fem inists’ prudish stereotypes\, as in the iconic punch line “That’s not funny ” others referring to the tactics and processes necessary for feminists to gain a voice. Perhaps it is these stigmas and reputations that have complic ated feminist declaration or motives today. Hopeful mixed with chauvinisti c punchlines progress in chronological order that follow the waves of femin ism. The book finishes with\, “Trick question. Feminists can’t change anyt hing” - an affective reality of the difficulties of making change.
Christine D'Onofrio would like to express her gratitude to t he Canada Council for the Arts for their generous support in the research a nd production of Falling Woman.
LOCATION:La Centrale Galerie Powerhouse GEO:45.518700;-73.583500 URL;VALUE=URI:https://ahva.ubc.ca/events/event/christine-donofrio-falling-w oman-3/ ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://ahva.cms.arts.ubc.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/37/2021/05/1038.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/Vancouver BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0700 TZOFFSETTO:-0800 DTSTART:20111106T090000 TZNAME:PST END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR