The Glamour Project

February 24 - March 21, 2009
540 West 26th Street

Press Release

Lehmann Maupin Gallery: The Glamour Project
24 February–21 March 2009
540 West 26th Street, New York City

Lehmann Maupin Gallery is pleased to announce "The Glamour Project," an exhibition in cooperation with Glamour magazine and in celebration of its 70th anniversary, on view at the gallery's 540 West 26th Street location from 24 February–21 March. For this exhibition, Glamour magazine photo director Suzanne Donaldson has invited 10 prominent female artists working in multiple media, of various ages and from different cultural backgrounds, to present an original artwork around the concept of glamour and its power. The Glamour Project will also be published in the April issue of Glamour. Artists include Nina Chanel Abney, Rita Ackermann, Sarah Charlesworth, Tracey Emin, Rachel Feinstein, Marilyn Minter, Laurie Simmons, Lorna Simpson, Mickalene Thomas and Kara Walker. The photographer Brigitte Lacombe will also present portraits of the artists to be shown in the South Gallery.

Derived from a word meaning "occult knowledge," glamour was initially a term associated with enchantment or the casting of a spell. Over time it has come to represent seduction, luxury and empowerment.

The artists included in this exhibition incorporate these notions into their respective practices, at times embracing the role of glamour in women's lives (as in Thomas' rhinestone portraits and Emin's neons), or rebelling against it (as in the gritty works of Ackermann and Abney). Glamour has also come to signify desirability, with overtones of consumption and indulgence, which Minter's works explore in their decadence, and to which Feinstein and Simmons react. Charlesworth, Simpson and Walker all challenge notions of glamour and how they relate to identity, gender and the complex ideas surrounding what it means to be a woman in today's society.

While the meaning of glamour has shifted and been reinterpreted, it still maintains the aspect of fantasy with which it was originally associated. Glamour is, in short, an illusion—a concept that the artists in this exhibition manipulate, test and debate.

Tracey Emin and Mickalene Thomas are represented by Lehmann Maupin Gallery. For further information, please contact Stephanie Smith at 212-255-2923 or Stephanie@LehmannMaupin.com; you may visit our website at www.LehmannMaupin.com.

Exhibition Works

TRACEY EMIN I promise to love you, 2008 clear blue and red neon 57.4 x 56.3 inches 145.8 x 143 cm Edition of 3


MICKALENE THOMAS Portrait of Qusuquzah, 2008 rhinestone and acrylic on panel 72 x 72 inches 182.9 x 182.9 cm


LAURIE SIMMONS Pink and Yellow I (Glamour Picture 2008, 1967), 2009 chromogenic c-print 36 x 48 inches 91.4 x 121.9 cm Edition of 5 Courtesy of Sperone Westwater for The Glamour Project


MARILYN MINTER Chewing Pink, 2008 c-print mounted on plexiglass 60 x 40 inches 152.4 x 101.6 cm Edition of 5 Courtesy of Salon 94 for The Glamour Project


RACHEL FEINSTEIN Punch and Family, 2009 aquaresin 79 x 39 x 58 inches 200.7 x 99.1 x 147.3 cm


KARA WALKER The Content of Character, 2008 - 2009 pastel and conté crayon on paper set of 10 drawings: eight drawings 24 x 32 inches 61 x 81.3 cm two drawings 32 x 24 inches 81.3 x 61 cm


KARA WALKER The Content of Character (detail), 2008 - 2009 pastel and conté crayon on paper set of 10 drawings: eight drawings 24 x 32 inches 61 x 81.3 cm two drawings 32 x 24 inches 81.3 x 61 cm


KARA WALKER The Content of Character (detail), 2008 - 2009 pastel and conté crayon on paper set of 10 drawings: eight drawings 24 x 32 inches 61 x 81.3 cm two drawings 32 x 24 inches 81.3 x 61 cm


NINA CHANEL ABNEY The Escorts, 2008 acrylic on canvas 93 x 66.5 inches 236.2 x 168.9 cm


RITA ACKERMANN Do's and don'ts nurses (united), 2008 - 2009 printed paper, printed canvas, acrylic and oil paint, oil stick, rabbit skin glue, acrylic medium and sand on linen 67.5 x 85.5 inches 171.5 x 217.2 cm


SARAH CHARLESWORTH History Painting Photo, 2009 mounted fuji crystal archive print 40 x 30 inches 101.6 x 76.2 cm Edition of 8


LORNA SIMPSON Gather, 2008 22 found photo booth portraits and 15 ink drawings on paper dimensions variable


BRIGITTE LACOMBE Kara Walker, 2008 archival pigment print 24 x 30 inches (framed) 61 x 76.2 cm Edition of 5


BRIGITTE LACOMBE Lorna Simpson, 2008 archival pigment print 24 x 30 inches (framed) 61 x 76.2 cm Edition of 5


BRIGITTE LACOMBE Marilyn Minter, 2008 archival pigment print 24 x 30 inches (framed) 61 x 76.2 cm Edition of 5


BRIGITTE LACOMBE Rachel Feinstein, 2009 archival pigment print 24 x 30 inches (framed) 61 x 76.2 cm Edition of 5


BRIGITTE LACOMBE Sarah Charlesworth, 2009 archival pigment print 24 x 30 inches (framed) 61 x 76.2 cm Edition of 5


BRIGITTE LACOMBE Nina Chanel Abney, 2009 archival pigment print 24 x 30 inches (framed) 61 x 76.2 cm Edition of 5


BRIGITTE LACOMBE Rita Ackermann, 2009 archival pigment print 24 x 30 inches (framed) 61 x 76.2 cm Edition of 5


BRIGITTE LACOMBE Mickalene Thomas, 2009 archival pigment print 24 x 30 inches (framed) 61 x 76.2 cm Edition of 5


BRIGITTE LACOMBE Laurie Simmons, 2009 archival pigment print 24 x 30 inches (framed) 61 x 76.2 cm Edition of 5