"PLAYER"
MARY BETH EDELSON
To open at the St. Regis in association with De Beers Diamond Jewellers
Exhibition
Thursday, March 3, 6-8 pm; Friday and Saturday, March 4 and 5, 10am-8pm
The St. Regis, Two E 55th Street (at Fifth Avenue)
Opening champagne reception for the artist
Thursday, March 3, 6-9 pm
De Beers, 703 Fifth Avenue (around the corner from The St. Regis)
Nancy Seltzer Art, Inc. and Bettina Kames Art Advisory are pleased to present “Player”,
an exhibition of works by Mary Beth Edelson, one of the most provocative and
historically relevant American contemporary artists. This will be her first solo exhibition
in New York in over ten years.
Presented in conjunction with the Armory Show, “Player” is a rare opportunity to
experience three of Edelson’s most important series from the 1970s and 1980s, each
exploring the concept of female identity. Drawings and collages as well as textile works
in which she enlarged portraits of movie stars onto 12-foot translucent chiffon fabric play with the notion of femme fatale and question the way in which Hollywood constructs images of women. Photographs of the artist herself, altered with paint, ink and grease pencil, portray a critical adjustment to the representation of the female body within the European art historical tradition.
In the 1970s, Edelson emerged from the New York SoHo scene as a ground-breaking
feminist artist and created, with “Some Living Women Artists/Last Supper” (1972), one
of the most iconic images of this movement. Since then, she has sustained a radical
engagement with the parameters of art. Working in a variety of media—including
sculpture, printmaking, painting, collage, installation, photography and performance—
her work relies on philosophies and iconographies taken from diverse sources, including European art history and pop culture, human rights and political critique, religion and spirituality.
In addition to having been featured in numerous publications, Edelson’s works are
included in illustrious collections such as the Museum of Modern Art, Solomon R.
Guggenheim Museum of Art, Walker Art Center and National Museum of American
Art, Washington, D.C. Her work is currently being shown at the Museum of Modern Art
(Pictures by Women: A History of Modern Photography, through April 4).
“Contemporary art is of particular relevance to De Beers Diamond Jewellery,” said
Francois Delage, CEO of De Beers Diamond Jewellery. “Our creations are born
from the desire to celebrate the innate power of the femininity of women, and this
philosophy is completely aligned to the support of contemporary female artists. The
expressiveness, subtlety and inspiration behind Mary Beth Edelson’s work is perfectly
attuned to our ethos. We are honored and thrilled to be supporting this great artist.”
The exhibition will be on view at the St. Regis from March 3 to 5, 2011 and at the De
Beers Fifth Avenue Boutique until March 12, 2011.
For further inquiries and high-resolution images:
Bettina Kames Art Advisory
Bettina Kames
De Beers Diamond Jewellers
Selda Bensusan
Director of Public Relations
T: 212 751 2265
Dr. Bettina Kames is a New York-based curator and advisor for private and corporate
collections in the United States, Germany, Switzerland and China. In addition, she
collaborates closely with museums in Germany and Switzerland. Kames holds a Ph.D in
Art History and specializes in contemporary art.
Nancy Seltzer is a collector and art enthusiast. She has served as a patron on
committees at the Whitney Museum of Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
and the Museum of Modern Art, among other art institutions. She has held leadership
positions at the Harvard Club of New York, most recently serving as Chair of the
Admissions Committee.
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