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Emma Stern

EMMA STERN

Boy, It Feels Good To Be A Cowgirl Almine Rech 12 July–14 August 2021 Paris, Rue de Turenne
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Press Release

Almine Rech is pleased to present Boy, It Feels Good To Be A Cowgirl, American artist Emma Stern’s first solo exhibition with the gallery.

Emma Stern paints virtual women, taking avatars as her muses. Stern plays with sultry—or even pornographic—codes and representations in the virtual world by combining traditional painting methods with 3D modelling methods.

In her work, Stern interprets the consequences of the biases and preferences prevalent in the male-dominated arena of software and technology, and magnifies the effects of those same preferences and biases on the female body and its popular representation in cyberspace. Her fantastical, pastel-coloured avatars borrow from familiar tropes in gaming, as well as from the visual vocabulary of niche online communities such as furries, fandom, and erotic 3D art message boards.

After obtaining a BFA from the school of painting at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, Emma Stern has exhibited her work internationally. Her work was recently on view as part of Resting Point of Accommodation, a group show curated by Bill Powers at Almine Rech Brussels.

Emma Stern lives and works in Brooklyn, NY

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About the Artist

Emma Stern’s work deploys her formal background in traditional oil-on-canvas painting to achieve a kind of contemporary portraiture made possible by 3d software. Using tools intended for game developers to create virtual female models that serve as her subjects, her work emphasizes and exacerbates the apparent inclination towards pornographic (or at least porn-adjacent) representations of women in 3d communities and gaming culture. Persistent themes include subversion, perversion, fantasy, and a unique kind of off-brand feminism vaguely reminiscent of pop-up ads of the “You Won’t Last 5 Minutes in This Game” variety.

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About the Gallery

Almine Rech opened its doors on April 1st, 1997 in the 13th arrondissement in Paris. The gallery was founded on an axis of California Minimal, Perceptual art and Conceptual art, representing artists such as James Turrell, John McCracken and Joseph Kosuth.

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Address
64 Rue de Turenne
Paris
France
Opening Hours
Tuesday – Saturday
11am – 7pm
(1)
Paris 64 Rue de Turenne
Almine Rech contemporary art gallery in Paris Rue de Turenne France
Almine Rech
64 Rue de Turenne, Paris, France
+33 145 837 190
http://www.alminerech.com

Opening hours
Tuesday – Saturday
11am – 7pm
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