ALLISON
ZUCKERMAN
Curatorial
Statement
13 December 2024 by Allison Zuckerman
"Like a gear shift, empowerment requires recalibration, moments of subtle and radical adjustment,
where strength, resilience, and agency are harnessed and redirected."
"Like a gear shift, empowerment requires recalibration, moments of subtle and radical adjustment, where strength, resilience, and agency are harnessed
and redirected."
POWER SHIFT brings together my early work with that of Evelyne Axell, allowing our perspectives on femininity, power, and self-expression to interact and resonate with one another in St. Agnes’s immense gallery space. The title POWER SHIFT holds multiple layers of meaning that enrich the themes in this exhibition. On one level, it refers to a technical term from automotive language – a shift in gears, an act that adjusts the car’s speed and direction by changing the engine’s power output. Similarly, this exhibition explores shifts in power dynamics, especially around femininity and self-expression.
Portrait © Allison Zuckerman Studio
Like a gear shift, empowerment requires recalibration, moments of subtle and radical adjustment, where strength, resilience, and agency are harnessed and redirected. Each painting contributes to this thematic shift, pushing back against societal constraints and assumptions about women’s identities. This concept of a power shift also captures a collective evolution in women’s roles. Just as a vehicle gains momentum with each shift, the figures in these works symbolize a movement toward self-determination – a momentum built on redefining strength and authority. Through quiet resilience or a confident gaze toward the horizon, each scene represents a step forward, embodying a nuanced yet determined shift toward claiming agency.
The Nave itself plays a vital role in this narrative. It is a vast, almost monumental space that, at first glance, might dwarf the works within it. The paintings initially appear small and unassuming, but as viewers step closer, the power within them grows undeniable, almost as if it physically knocks you back. This shift in perception, where something modest becomes monumental up close, reveals a truth about empowerment: appearances can be deceiving, and strength often emerges from unexpected places. Like a car accelerating with a gear shift, these works show that size does not define impact; instead, power lies in depth, narrative, vulnerability, and authenticity.
Exhibition view © Roman März
In one part of the installation, two paintings facing opposite directions – both singing and wailing simultaneously. This arrangement captures a raw tension between emotion and strength, highlighting the complexity of female empowerment as multifaceted – both fierce and tender, understated yet bold. True strength is not always loud or obvious; it’s layered and complex, building over time to create a profound impact.
Exhibition view © Roman März
The open road in our work symbolizes freedom, yet it carries layered meaning, especially within the context of feminism. Roads traditionally represent autonomy, leading to uncharted territories. In Axell’s painting “Auto-Stop,” created in 1965, the road embodies a journey toward agency – a path often filled with barriers that have historically constrained women’s freedom. Both Axell and I depict female figures lying on this road, yet with different perspectives. Axell’s figure reclines nude in an odalisque pose, gazing toward the horizon, a helmet blending with the rising or setting sun. She conveys confidence and possibility, claiming her space as a wanderer unbound by expectations.
Exhibition view © Roman März
In my painting “Let Her Be”, the woman faces forward, ruminating in grief as Mickey Mouse hands intrude upon her, drawing over her body. These cartoonish hands symbolize the allure and insidious reach of American consumerism – something that often seems playful and benign but can subtly impose its influence, even govern one’s life. Here, the hands represent the commodification of identity, especially as it pertains to women, and the pressure to conform to external narratives. Yet as her tears fall to the dry desert ground, they begin to fertilize the arid landscape, suggesting that even in sorrow, there’s potential for growth. Her emotions bring life to desolation, turning it into a place of potential and regeneration.
Exhibition view © Roman März
In another cluster, Axell’s landscape, “La Chute d’eau,” painted with her signature opaque enamel, depicts a serene waterfall, its frame painted as well, blending subject and frame. In the corner, a small cluster of leaves resembles a fairy-like creature. Next to it, my painting “Curtain Caller” reflects similar colors – orange, red, blue, and green – and presents three women. One holds open a turquoise curtain, echoing Axell’s waterfall. Two figures beside her – one smirking, the other concerned – display contrasting emotions. These works create a visual dialogue that connects them in both palette and narrative, merging our perspectives seamlessly. Axell’s drawing, “Étude pour l’Esprit Critique,” shows a male figure breaking through a fractured wall, half his head missing, arms crossed, with two female figures smiling at each other in the foreground. Nearby, another of her works, “Souvenir d’un voyage à Istanbul 1,” depicts penises sprouting in a field, with a nude woman of equal scale holding the edge of the paper. Next to it, my painting “Anxious/Avoidant” of a blonde woman looks off, her concerned expression rendered in purples, turquoises, and reds, inspired by Matisse and comic art. This interplay across the cluster creates an atmosphere where individual identities and collective stories converge.
Exhibition view © Roman März
Another key element of POWER SHIFT is the presence of three of my flat, freestanding sculptures at the entrance of the gallery. These shaped, standing paintings are of figures, and they occupy a unique space between two-dimensional and three-dimensional art. They are flat, but they stand independently, asserting themselves within the room and demanding attention. Each sculpture embodies the female form, frozen in a moment of vulnerability or power, depending on the viewer’s angle and perspective. Their flatness challenges the expectation of dimensionality in sculpture, just as the figures themselves challenge traditional depictions of femininity. By standing free in the space, these sculptures represent women stepping out of their frames, taking up space, and reclaiming autonomy. They serve as figures that are neither confined to the wall nor entirely sculptural, existing instead in a space of their own making – symbolic of a shift toward female self-definition, unbound by conventional expectations.
Exhibition view © Roman März
The installation groups work by theme, guiding viewers through a spectrum of emotions – from sorrow and introspection to empowered nudity and confidence. Each cluster reflects on power and agency, particularly around how women’s identities are expressed, controlled, or freed. Axell’s sculpture, titled “La Pelouse” (DO NOT STEP ON AN AXELL), is a powerful reminder of defiance in the face of vulnerability, asserting dignity against an often hostile world. In POWER SHIFT, the element of surprise, the reclamation of identity, and the embrace of agency come together as a testament to female strength. Each work invites viewers to look beyond surface appearances, to see power where it’s least expected, and to recognize that true empowerment often lies in cumulative moments and acts that collective over time.
