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<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nInstallation view with (L-R) Sondra Meszaros, Damned #1<\/em>, strange spot #1<\/em> and Damned #9<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Upon entering the gallery, three large works greet the viewers, immediately setting the show\u2019s vibe. On either side are Damned #1<\/em> and Damned #9 <\/em>(2019) presenting nude female forms predominantly covered with black pigment while only revealing slivers of their bare-naked bodies. Flanked in between is strange spot #1 <\/em>(2019). Mounted in vibrant red pigment, the work stages a female figure posed in midmotion of spanking the unadorned bottom she has been overlaid with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sondra Meszaros, strange spot #1,<\/em> 2019, oil pastel on digital pigment print on rag paper, 53 x 41 inches<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is inevitable to associate female nudity with violence. Many of these photographs were originally displayed for exploitation where women were positioned in subservience to their male counterparts. In this exhibition Meszaros reclaims the female body, putting her in charge of her own fate by stripping her sex-slave identity, as the black veil of pigment covers most of her body from the male gaze, replacing the impulse of male violence with female strength and ferocity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sondra Meszaros, Damned #10<\/em>, 2019, mixed media, digital pigment print on rag paper, 52 x 41 inches<\/p>\n\n\n\n The exhibition felt like a step back in time with its Dada-inspired outlook. Set against the Corkin Gallery\u2019s vast industrial space, the show negotiates between modern and contemporary sensibilities visible not only in Meszaros\u2019 use of avant-garde aesthetics but also in the underlining message of the images. They not only confront injuring gender roles, but also proclaim rebellion against patriarchal practices. They declare emancipation from longstanding gender stereotypes where women are pervasively marginalized. The artist suggests a resolution to the subservience of women in the early-twentieth century by reworking them in acts where they are empowered to reclaim their sexuality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n