7x7 Magazine
September 2008
"Things You Shouldn't See" and "Catalyst".
by Leilani Labong
Make no mistake; painter Susannah Bettag is sneaky. Her canvases lure in viewers with what she calls "luscious, lickable, hard-candy colors" and almost cartoon-like iconography of Barbie-style dolls and Bambi-style deer. The public thinks, This is something we can wrap our heads around, cheerful as it appears. Then we step in for a closer inspection, only to unearth pornographic sketches of women obscured in the background and a deluge of worms and bacterial shapes alighting on skin, lips, eyes. "Nothing is quite what it seems," Bettag says.
Perhaps the title of her upcoming show at downtown's Frey Norris Gallery should have tipped us off: "Things You Shouldn't See" depicts the UK nativeÕs commentary on the struggles of women to preserve their identities against what she calls "a crass mass media that tells women that an overt display of sexuality is liberating." The bacteriaÑinspired by slides Bettag once glimpsed in National GeographicÑand the worms are deceptively adorable agents of decay, representations of the aging process. The X-rated outlines of naked women in compromising sexual positionsÑand camouflaged in otherwise joyful environsÑprovide stark contrast to the innocence of the doe in Are You Thinking of Me? or the jubilant spontaneity of the female portrayed (above) in Truth and Tears. "As a woman, I struggle to stay true to myself and not unrealistically conform to the young, peppy, sexy, cute predefined image of what a woman should be," Bettag says.
While Bettag employs a juicy color palette to elicit interest in "the disturbing underbelly of feminism," there is something to be said for using more sinister, straight-to-the-point shades to illustrate discord. Josh Graham, a Brooklyn-based artist who will be hanging works in a September group show at the Lower HaightÕs Fifty24SF, specializes in surrealism-inspired art that tackles environmental issues. "Using a dark palette is natural for me," he says. "Bright colors seem too obvious. The most interesting side of humanity shows itself in the dark. I like the idea of things lurking in the shadows."
Graham's digital-photo collage, A Storm of Light, is a commentary on the whaling industry, featuring a gory scene (above left) of injured whales, curious sharks, sinking ships, oil and bloodÑembedded within the scene are images of a heart, a raven (generally considered a bad omen) and a skull. "The blood and oil in this scene are morbid," says Graham, an ardent environ-mentalist, "but they also reflect the heart of the Earth."
"This piece doesn't really offer up a ray of hope," he adds. "Too much 'art' these days leaves people brainless and vacant. Hopefully I can wake people up and inspire change"Ñthe quintessential artist's quest.
- Leilani Labong
7x7 Magazine
September, 2008