Artists Space

Post-Boys&Girls:
Nine Painters

November 15, 1990 – January 5, 1991

Post-Boys&Girls is a group exhibition exploring the critical capabilities of painting. Post-Boys&Girls challenges the notion that painting is mired in a patriarchal system of commodity consumption by investigating the social construction and subversion of gender issues through the medium of painting.

A slice of bacon on a red background, with the words "bringing home the B." spiraling on top of it in black text.
Holly Morse, Bringing Home the Bacon, 1989. Oil on linen, 24 x 24 inches. [A slice of bacon on a red background, with the words "bringing home the B." spiraling on top of it in black text.]

Artists included in Post-Boys&Girls are Ken Aptekar, Nancy Davidson, Greg Davidek, Greg Drasler, Lee Gordon, Margo Machida, Holly Morse, Lillian Mulero, and Millie Wilson.

In the tradition of feminist art history and criticism, the nine painters in the exhibition engage questions of subjectivity and authority; they re-examine the relationship between pleasure and desire in terms of dominant gender discourse. The formal strategies of the works in Artists included in Post-Boys&Girls range widely from abstraction to appropriation, from romantic realism to cool conceptualism, while relying on the material presence of paint.

Post-Boys&Girls is accompanied by a catalogue with reproductions of each of the artists' works and essays by Renee Green, Michael Kimmel, James Saslow and Carol Zemel, scholars and writers from both the theoretical and practical spheres of gender discourse.

An adult sits in a chair and reads a book to a child seated on their lap and holding a doll. The adult wears wears a white, pointed, Klu Klux Klan-style hood.
Lee Gordon, Father Reading to Son, 1987. Oil on white lead on canvas, 32 x 40 inches. [An adult sits in a chair and reads a book to a child seated on their lap and holding a doll. The adult wears wears a white, pointed, Klu Klux Klan-style hood.]
A person wearing a black mask over their head reads a book titled <i>Kennedys An American Dream</i>.
Lee Gordon, Here's to America Series, 1990. Oil on canvas, 18 inch round. [A person wearing a black mask over their head reads a book titled Kennedys An American Dream.]
Two suits of armor face one another, with a medieval-style battle scene in the background. The words "FUCK ME? FUCK YOU FUCK ME? FUCK YOU" form a circle on top of the scene.
Ken Aptekar, Fuck Me? Fuck You, 1990. Oil on wood, sandblasted glass, bolts, polyptych, 60 x 60 inches overall. [Two suits of armor face one another, with a medieval-style battle scene in the background. The words "FUCK ME? FUCK YOU FUCK ME? FUCK YOU" form a circle on top of the scene.]
A slightly chipped painting of a face with downcast eyes and a medieval-style crown. The word "Oversensitive" is overlaid across the top part of the face.
Ken Aptekar, Oversensitive, 1987-1990. Oil on wood, sandblasted glass, bolts, 30 x 30 inches. [A slightly chipped painting of a face with downcast eyes and a medieval-style crown. The word "Oversensitive" is overlaid across the top part of the face.]
Two monochrome grey panels of equal sizes. The left is an image of an oval frame with a blank white center. The right shows a woman in period dress, pulling up her skirt, urinating into chamber pot.
Lillian Mulero, Folk Art/Self Portrait, 1990. Oil and aluminum on canvas, 41 x 50 inches, diptych. [Two monochrome grey panels of equal sizes. The left is an image of an oval frame with a blank white center. The right shows a woman in period dress, pulling up her skirt, urinating into chamber pot.]
A small square of illegible text, an abstract image of two black squares on grey, and a painting of a person in period dress and a top hat all hang on a blue wall.
Millie Wilson, The Painter Who is Not One, 1990, detail. Acrylic on canvas, text, type, photos, wall paint, 13 by 25 feet, variable. [A small square of illegible text, an abstract image of two black squares on grey, and a painting of a person in period dress and a top hat all hang on a blue wall.]
A line of eight paintings and blocks of illegible text in various sizes hang on a wall. Some are paintings abstract compositions of black squares, others show a person in period dress, and two show the Eiffel Tower.
Millie Wilson, The Painter Who is Not One, 1990. Acrylic on canvas, text, type, photos, wall paint, 13 by 25 feet, variable. [A line of eight paintings and blocks of illegible text in various sizes hang on a wall. Some are paintings abstract compositions of black squares, others show a person in period dress, and two show the Eiffel Tower.]

Post-Boys & Girls Postcard

Post-Boys & Girls Press Release

Post-Boys & Girls Catalogue

Holly Morse Artist Statement

Lee Gordon CV

Lillian Gordon CV

Margo Machida CV

MillIe Wilson Artist Statement

Millie Wilson CV

Nancy Davidson CV

James M. Saslow CV

Carol Zemel CV

Michael S. Kimmel CV

Artists Space programs are made possible by: the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency, New York State Council on the Arts, and New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; AT&T Foundation, Inc., The David Bermant Foundation: Color, Light, Motion, The Bohen Foundation, The Cowles Charitable Trust, Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts, Inc., Horace w. Goldsmith Foundation, The Greenwall Foundation, Jerome Foundation, The J.M. Kaplan Fund, The Dorothea L. Leonhardt Foundation, Inc., The Joe and Emily Lowe Foundation, Inc., The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, The Menemsha Fund, Joyce Mertz-Gilmore Foundation, Betty Parsons Foundation, The Reed Foundation, Inc., The Rockefeller Foundation, The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc., and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.; American Express Company, The Chase Manhattan Bank, N.A., Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc., Equitable Real Estate Group, Inc., General Atlantic Corporation, R.H. Macy and Company, Inc., Morgan Guaranty Trust Company of New York, Philip Morris Companies Inc., and U.S. Trust Company of New York; as well as Artwatch, Galleries in Support of Artists Space, Members and numerous Friends.

Artists Space is a member of the National Association of Artists Organizations (NAAO) and the National Alliance of Media Arts Centers (NAMAC).

    Two faces on a black background, with a black and red patterned rectangle dividing them. The left face is upside-down, and a skeltal hand overlaps the face. The right is upright, and is looking back over their shoulder.
    Margo Machida, Altered Fates, 1990. Acrylic on canvas, 48 x 56 inches. [Two faces on a black background, with a black and red patterned rectangle dividing them. The left face is upside-down, and a skeltal hand overlaps the face. The right is upright, and is looking back over their shoulder.]