Eclipse

Cheryl Rondeau

A Space Windows

May 14 – June 12, 2010

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Eclipse is a series of small portraits of women acting out ubiquitous yet fleeting moments of ecstasy, all extracted from pornographic film. Isolated and frozen, these vignettes provide a portrait of each subject that is at once revealing, and concealing. Faces are in plain view but attention appears focused elsewhere – lost in personal reverie. By focusing on a very specific micro-gesture and extracting it completely from its original context – doing this over and over again – I am interested in showing the absurdity of these isolated moments. In a sense, I am taking to its extreme, Judith Butler’s theory of “gender performativity” where she describes repetition of certain behaviours and gestures as integral to the naturalization of sex and gender differences. My interest in isolating these gestures is to examine associations, implications and semiotics relating to a common cinematic moment. The work activates our existing relationship with the moving image in entertainment and amplifies the populist recognition of stereotypical situations and roles inhabited by females.

Biographies

Born in St. Catharines (Canada), Cheryl Rondeau studied photography and video at the Ontario College of Art (Toronto) and has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social/Cultural Anthropology from the University of Toronto. Her work has been included in exhibitions and festivals internationally including Festival international du film sur l’art (Montreal, Québec) Mediawave International Festival of Visual Arts (Gyor, Hungary), Scope Art Fair (New York City) and Museum of Modern Art (Bogota, Colombia).