Semmes, Beverly
This site specific installation by artist Beverly Semmes was commissioned by Progressive in 1995. The artwork consists of four enlarged velvet and organza dresses. The artist has deliberately used colors that would put your teeth on edge. Each one, installed on the large brick wall, cascades downward thirty-two feet. The overall effect is sensuous as the fabric appears to float on the stark white backdrop. These elongated forms seem to allude to the humanizing and animation of everyday objects and causes us to consider the women who might occupy these pieces of attire. As the artist states,"Like a perfect size 6000, the work is a link between the viewer's body and massive architecture...This piece is a visual and tactile talisman of female form both ideal and gigantic." "In classical art the figure was the prototype for all proportion and measurement (...) clothes not only cover but are a substitute for the physical body." Semmes distorts the proportions of standard clothing sizes causing the work to look elongated and exaggerated. What results is a formal study of pattern, texture and color on a monumental scale. This strategy has been used by artists working in the tradition of surrealism and pop art. Semmes art also examines female stereotypes and issues of identity and gender. Semmes was born in Washington, D.C. and currently lives in New York City. She received an M.F.A. in Sculpture from the Yale School of Art, New Haven, CT. She has had solo exhibitions at: Centro per l'arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci, Prato, Italy; Camden Arts Centre, London, England; Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, PA; The Sculpture Center, New York and "Special Projects" The Institute for Contemporary Art, P.S.I Museum, Long Island City, NY. Her work has been included in numerous group exhibitions such as "American Art Today: Clothing as a Metaphor," The Art Museum, Florida International University Museum, Miami, FL and "First Sightings," Denver Art Museum, both in 1993. Semmes has also designed sets for the Mathilde Monnier Dance Company of Montpellier, France and is the recipient of many awards. 1994.52