All About Eve - paintings by Sandra Turnbull
Published December 29th, 2007 in Erotic Artists
All About Eve - paintings by Sandra Turnbull
February 21st - March 21st, Novas Gallery, London NW1
All About Eve is a mixed media event created by former Manager of the Eurythmics, Sandra Turnbull, that’s all about female emancipation.
Turnbull’s erotic show uses a painted diary to document the celebration of a woman’s right to choose to work as an erotic performer in the sex industry. Using this seldom seen technique she manages to fuse ‘Politics and Paint’ by turning the gaze away from the vulnerability of her subjects and uses her female perspective to look at the emancipation achieved within the male dominated industry.
Says Sandra Turnbull, “The women who inhabit the world of sex clubs are marginalised in society, often ostracised and looked down upon. I believe the females I have encountered in this environment have made a conscious choice to inhabit such a world. The audience who watch them certainly have.”
All About Eve features three installations, alongside a wealth of paintings. Turnbull’s paintings offer a new approach to the arena of sex; represented through the use of bold colour and frenetic brushstrokes all emphasising the freedom of expression in the female dancer. Turnbull is also turning the gaze on the role of the spectator, she sees that in the field of erotic dancing a subtle shift takes place between the spectator and the performer. Because touching is not allowed communication burns through eyes only.
Turnbull has already established herself as one of the most progressive and inventive erotic artists of the past five years, featuring alongside Tracey Emin, Gary Hume and Pablo Picasso in Michelle Olley’s acclaimed “Ars Erotics, The Best Modern Erotic Art ”
All About Eve asks the viewer to explore the dynamic of the relationship forged between the watcher and the watched. Who has the power? Is the woman forced into the role of the performer because of her lack of alternatives? Why are the men watching; are they passive aggressive, seeking relationship or a need to be teased and tempted? Is the naked dancer vulnerable and exposed, or is the watcher exposed and vulnerable Is the female exploited because she is nude or because we look at her naked?
Entry is FREE
Novas Gallery Camden
73 Parkway
Camden Town
London NW1 7PP
T: 020 7267 5641/ 9127
For information on Sandra Turnbull, go to www.sandraturnbull.com
For further information contact:
Darren Asamoa on 020 7424 3021 or
Darren.asamoa@novas.org
Sandra Turnball
ARTIST STATEMENT
My work is not a comment on the unacceptable Women Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation that Amnesty International are fighting to stop. The UN estimate 700,000 people are trafficked each year for sexual exploitation and the turnover to the unscrupulous traffickers is estimated at £4 billion. The chances are women are bought, sold, enslaved and abused in our own communities. The Home office suggests that at least 1,400 women are trafficked into the UK each year. We have come a long way but NOT FAR ENOUGH.
All About Eve will be travelling to Spain in May to the “Desig” gallery in the centre of Barcelona.
Further Information:
• Less than 5% of the artists in the Modern Art section of the Met.
Museum are women, but 85% of the nudes are female.
• Sex Workers rights are human rights, common and accepted rights that
apply to every citizen, these Human rights are those that government
have already signed up to, but are denied to sex workers. (ICRSE
Network in Action - Amsterdam.)
• In an attempt to get the vote for all women around 1869, the
hero(ine) Emmeline Pankhurst, through the Women’s Party, fought for
female equality supporting “equal pay for equal work” ; in 2007 The
government were required to create a paper to enforce equal pay and
give written notice that women have rights.
• 100 years after Ms Pankhurst, women are still marginalised, we are
still struggling.
• WOMEN ARE HALF THE WORLD’S POPULATION
WORKING TWO THIRDS OF THE WORLD’S WORKING HOURS
RECEIVING 10% OF THE WORLD’S INCOME
OWNING LESS THAN 1% OF THE WORLD’S PROPERTY.
About Novas
The novas gallery Camden is part of novas arts a subsidiary of the
Novas Group, where we aim to change lives through arts, enterprise and
support.
The novas group has developed a strong reputation for the delivery of
quality housing and community-based services, and for new and
innovative approaches to working with people who experience
inequality, exclusion and discrimination.
More recently we are developing extensive work, learning, social
enterprise and cultural services to support our core work and to match
and stretch the diverse aspirations of the people we support.
novas arts is an evolving programme of creative expression for people
of all backgrounds, ages, and abilities who seek to experience the
transformative power of art. Through exhibitions, public art and
educational programs we promote artistic exploration and appreciation;
encourage community participation and growth; and provide
opportunities for empowerment and social change.
Few social problems have had so visible a place on the urban landscape
as homelessness and exclusion and novas arts’ mantra is dedicated to
exposing broad and diverse audiences to its themes. A goal for novas
arts is to provide a creative forum for participants to express their
feelings and use their experiences to create better understanding of
the themes and issues involved. Another goal is to help generate
compassion for people who truly need and want help to change their
lives and engage with the world around them.
