C24 Gallery is pleased to present CAMPAIGN, a group exhibition curated by Amy Smith-Stewart. The exhibition places the popular depiction of the female body in a torrent of unrestrained expression from 27 international artists. Smith-Stewart states: “We are a culture obsessed with image making. The rapidly growing and absolutely powerful rise of new media embrace the celebrity lifestyle of “making it.” Who we are and what we are have become reflections of popular thinking.”
Incorporating an array of media, CAMPAIGN goes under the surface of digitally manipulated imagery of the homogenized female in order to understand how this has become a repository for confused and misplaced notions of status, power, dominance and beauty. By showing how women’s bodies are marketed, CAMPAIGN poses questions such as: What perpetuates this hegemonic depiction of women and how do we reveal what is really underneath the super-perfect veneer?
While appropriating imagery from mainstream culture and repurposing fashionable tropes, CAMPAIGN creates alternative meanings that reveal hidden truths—exploring the stereotypes of femininity to uncover contemporary self-reflective practices. The artists show how technological advances enable the manipulation of a visual vernacular. This fuels a fixation with transformation that complicates ongoing struggles with personal identity.

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About Amy Smith-Stewart
Amy Smith-Stewart is an independent curator based in New York. She is the founder of the nomadic gallery, Smith-Stewart. She was Curator at P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center/The Museum of Modern Art, New York from January 2002-December 2005 where she was also one of six curators of Greater New York 2005. Presently, she is on faculty at the School of Visual Arts, MFA Fine Arts Department and the Sotheby’s Institute, New York, MA Contemporary Art program.