Since December 9th, the UK artist and designer Julie Verhoeven has presented an immersive installation in the Fox Reading Room of the Institute of Contemporary Arts of London.
Her work explores concepts of femininity and how they are represented in popular culture, both past and present. For this, she uses a collage of cartoon phalluses, faux pornographic images and satirical subversions of female domesticity, to create a distorted vision of the representation of female identity.
With this installation, Verhoeven invites the visitor into a fun and pop-cultural world, with some obvious political points.
A newly commissioned film, referencing female seduction, titillation and perversion plays throughout the space from monitors placed within the basins of quilted toilet seats.
As you can understand, Verhoeven is not a “politically correct” artist and she aims to creates a playful environment that defies and questions our own perceptions of femininity gender and taste.
Here you can watch Julie Verhoeven’s Golden Nuggets, a short film in which Julie herself welcomes visitors to her exhibition.
Until January 18th, 2015
Institute of Contemporary Arts – 12 Carlton House Terrace – London SW1Y 5AH
