HOLDING UP HALF THE SKY

22 September - 16 October 2022

Los Angeles

INSTALLATION VIEWS

Holding Up Half The Sky at Maddox Gallery

Maddox Gallery proudly presents ‘Holding Up Half The Sky,’ a group exhibition that reconsiders identity and personal agency from a female artist’s point of view.

Introducing works by Dawn Okoro, Jessalyn Brooks, and Marina Heintze, the exhibition examines what it means to have meaning and autonomy over the female form. Through figurative portraiture, how do these artists represent themselves and women in the world amidst conventional ideals of body politics, race, sexuality, and gender?

The three artists here reveal our shared contemporary experiences and inspire us to re-consider our beliefs about identity and self-determination. Their works serve as urgent calls for awareness, thoughtful dialogue, and effective action, all in the hopes of a more inclusive society.

WORKS ON VIEW

Jessalyn Brooks The Passing of Time, Dreaming of Babylon Oil on canvas

Dawn Okoro Paroxysm Acrylic and gold leaf on canvas

Dawn Okoro Looking East Acrylic and copper leaf on canvas

PODCAST

MEET THE ARTISTS

JESSALYN BROOKS

Jessalyn Brooks is a Los Angeles painter whose female forms recall the abstract dynamism of Cubism through their geometric shapes and earth tone palette. Her interest in drawing and her assuredness of line carry throughout her oils on canvas, works on paper, and large-scale public murals. Informed by the romance of industry: machinery, shape, volume, and movement, Brooks’ strong, angular nudes question our ideals of beauty, body shape, and gender. “The female form has lived and gone dormant in art so many times throughout art history”, she notes in an interview. “I do believe women are having a moment right now. This is the most powerful we have been in human history. I want to document that.”

DAWN OKORO

Bold and vibrant, Dawn Okoro’s work explores ideas of identity and self-reflexivity. Channelling her Nigerian heritage and a sense of displacement from her homeland, Okoro’s work utilises colour, movement and texture to highlight the many facets behind the human persona. Painting conceptual portraiture and executed on a block colour background, Okoro’s figures exist in a negative space which helps her to capture the spirit of the subject. Taken from magazines or her own photographs, the artist’s command of composition and colour merge to create engaging imagery with vivid narratives. Influenced by fashion photography as well as punk culture, Okoro continues to experiment with fashion design and videography, in addition to her more typical painted style.

Marina Heintze

Marina Heintze is a visual artist who works in mixed media with a socio-political message that focuses on sexuality, politics, and violence in contemporary culture. Most recently, in 2022, Marina Heintze was selected for Nada’s Online Exhibition, ‘Reset’ by curator, María Elena Ortiz of the Pérez Art Museum Miami. In 2022 she received grants from The Puffin Foundation & in 2021 grants from Mozaik’s ‘Re-imagining Democracy’, Culver City Arts Foundation ‘Projecting Possibilities’, and Still-Point, a non-profit exhibiting online magazine. Her work has been exhibited in public art venues and in New York and Los Angeles galleries and non-profit art organizations. Her solo exhibition ‘Kama Shooter’ was shown in 2020 at The Row DTLA. Her work has been in numerous publications, including ArtNet, HyperAllergic, The New York Magazine, The NY POST, and Inked Magazine. Heintze has worked as a tattoo artist, freelance graphic designer, and production director for film companies and publications such as Visionaire and V Magazine. While living in Brooklyn, NY, she was the proprietor of Meattt, Inc. which was a hybrid tattoo and art studio. Born and raised in New York City, she currently has a studio in Los Angeles. She is a graduate of CalArts and Parsons The New School for Design.