Sasha Gordon's Surrogate Self at ICA Miami

6 December 2023 | Exhibitions

Sasha Gordon, Almost A Very Rare Thing (2022). Courtesy the artist and Matthew Brown, Los Angeles. Photo: Genevieve Hanson.

Sasha Gordon's Surrogate Self at ICA Miami 2

Sasha Gordon, Pluck (2022). Courtesy the artist and Matthew Brown, Los Angeles. Photo: Genevieve Hanson.

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Sasha Gordon, Princess (2023). Oil on canvas. 182.8 x 243.8 cm. © Sasha Gordon. Courtesy Stephen Friedman Gallery, London and New York and Matthew Brown, Los Angeles. Photo: Mark Blower.

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Sasha Gordon, Pinky Promise (2022). Courtesy the artist and Matthew Brown, Los Angeles. Photo: Genevieve Hanson.

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Sasha Gordon, Concert Mistress (2021). Oil on canvas. 182.8 x 121.9 x 5.7 cm. Collection of ICA Miami, Miami. Courtesy the artist and Matthew Brown, Los Angeles.

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Sasha Gordon, Like Froth (2022). Oil on canvas. 152.4 x 121.9 cm. Courtesy Matthew Brown, Los Angeles.

Sasha Gordon gave her first solo exhibition at Matthew Brown in Los Angeles in 2021. She depicts her subjects— often hyper-aware, nude women with colourful skin—in a style that hovers between surrealistic and hyperrealistic.

Coinciding with Art Basel Miami Beach 2023, Surrogate Self marks the New York-based artist's first solo museum exhibition. On view at Institute of Contemporary Art from 5 December 2023 to 10 March 2024, the exhibition delves into themes of self-image, intimacy, the feminine form, and racial biases.

In Like Froth (2022), Gordon presents a nude self-portrait, perched on a rock in the ocean. Gordon's fiery golden locks mirror the cascading hair in Sandro Botticelli's The Birth of Venus (1482–1485), and the turquoise sea emulates its colour palette.

In contrast to the original piece, Gordon's subject sits in solitude with a stony expression, suggesting a disconnect between traditional notions of female beauty and the experience of the artist as a queer Asian American woman.

Ocula Advisor Simon Fisher Contact Sasha Gordon

Artist Profile Sasha Gordon View Bio, Works & Exhibitions

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