Artist Cara
Erskine presents new works in "HUDDLE: Cara Erskine and Norm
Paris", running through March 31 at
Tower Gallery
in Philadelphia.
The show
includes four large-scale paintings and an embossment based
on the artists' allegorical treatment of sports iconography.
The exhibition is the culmination of an ongoing dialogue
between Erskine and Paris, who were colleagues while
attending graduate school at Yale School of Art.
Cara Erskine's paintings of lesbian tennis stars from the
1970s, including Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova,
describe both the physical rigors of the game and celebrate
the victories of women who were in one way marginalized by
society at the time of their triumph. “Breakfast at
Wimbledon” and “Cookie,” paintings of King and Navratilova
lifting the famed victor’s plate of Wimbledon, are
particularly timely, given the All England Club’s recent
announcement that women will now be given prize money equal
to male competitors.
Erskine's large diptych "XL," brings together sexuality and
sport in a more explicit manner. The painting shows the
fingertips of two women touching, one hand decorated with
the jeweled rings of Super Bowl victory. Its reference to
the divine union of Michelangelo’s "Creation of Adam" in the
Sistine Chapel and to an award unachievable to women
athletes make it in Erskine's words, "the ultimate fantasy
painting." The artist always dreamed of competing in sports
like football, which as a child she did not realize were not
open to women. Now she has the same hope for another
seemingly impossible achievement: same-sex marriage. The
hands in the painting are those of the artist and her
partner, and the work conveys a sense of tenderness and
longing for a union currently unavailable to the queer
community.
Cara Erskine was born in Bristol, Pa., in 1978. She received
a fellowship to the Yale at Norfolk Summer School of Music
and Art in 1999, a BFA in Painting from Pennsylvania State
University in 2000, and a MFA in Painting/Printmaking from
Yale School of Art in 2002. Cara currently lives and works
in Pittsburgh, PA where she is Exhibitions Coordinator at
Carnegie Mellon University’s Regina Gouger Miller Gallery.
She is also an Adjunct Professor at Robert Morris
University, where she teaches Color Theory, Printmaking and
Drawing.
Tower Gallery is Philadelphia's newest gallery of
contemporary art, showing the work of both emerging and
established artists. Tower Gallery is located in the East
Girard Arts District at 969 N. 2nd Street in Philadelphia.
Gallery hours are Wednesday through Friday, noon to 6 p.m.
and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. For additional information,
please contact Tower Gallery at 215.253.9874 or visit
www.thetowergallery.com.
