‘Rapaciously Yours’, Frances Goodman’s recent solo exhibit at the Richard Taittinger Gallery, addresses fundamental women’s issues by way of a tantalizing visual experience. Through large- scale, emotionally engaging works, the South African artist touches upon the male gaze, unjust societal pressures on women, and the sexual empowerment/exploitation of the female body. The grotesque and almost monstrous ways in which Goodman investigates beauty and femininity are utterly compelling. In a hypnotizing manner, ‘Rapaciously Yours’ entices the viewer. It’s a very effective seduction. Goodman executes her feminist messages through a robust array of mediums including installation, sound installation, sculpture, neon, and photography – mostly conceived using unorthodox materials like found car seats, press on nails, chintzy bijoux, and donated wedding dresses.
Frances Goodman, Bite Your Nail (2014). Reflective Vinyl on Plexiglas with Swarovski crystals. Courtesy of the artist and Richard Taittinger Gallery, New York.
There is a beautiful mix of the fantastical, the vulgar, the mundane and the romantic seamlessly intertwined and prettily packaged all at once. Goodman’s intoxicating color palette of irresistible neon pinks, sensuous violets, luscious magentas, and lustful fuchsias mentally fondle in hushed sexual overtures. In ‘Bite Your Nail’ (2014), blinged-out nails and a glossy lip are at play, resembling a sexual innuendo dripping with materialistic connotations. A prime example where Goodman’s themes of excess, consumerism, vanity, and sensuality emerge.