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reviews criticism

A Remedy for Art History Enter the JB Daniel's exhibit and be confronted with an almost comical representation of the abstract female in our modern North American* culture. Her endless images of headless bodies conjure two immediate subjective associations for myself- the first being the anonymous female (thus requesting every woman face herself) and the second of a headless woman; the brain or identity replaced with icons of functional commonality and daily object. I immediately feel that I must be impressed by the urgency of communication, a message to be understood, for by the mere quantity of image repetitions the internal pressure to arrive at a conclusion is inescapable. It is there that I presently face myself. The image of the headless (and leg-less) nude woman repeatedly appears in a catalogued, virtually commercial fashion. It resembles an index of parts presented for sale like objects available for purchase from a department stores. The figure is static, lifeless and mannequin-like. It represents figural vulnerability and passivity. Although this specifically selected image of woman emerges as adult, natural and un-doctored what becomes subtly apparent is the lack of physical body hair. The body is presented as round-hipped and post-pubescent yet it does not denote hair color or race. This is one more attribute of personality removed. The artist has accompanied the nude icon with a variable of collected, eerie paper "tags" and objects- consequentially posting them where the figure's brain or "graymatter" once should have existed. She again proceeds to illustrate for us the matters of function and purpose that a woman as object or commodity may serve. It is here however that the image extends itself to include the human condition of work task and definition of identity by such actions. JB Daniel's body of work contains a clear frankness about thought process. She completes her exhibit with a provision of charming and humorous titles for her pieces that act as comic relief for the viewer. Each of the titles plays on embodied cultural phrase- familiar and easily associable phrases one encounters from childhood on. Some of the titles address stereotypical "tags" that apply to expected qualities and behaviors of women, most often encouraged in the North American version of traditional popular culture and patriarchal society. The whimsy of these titles brings added dimension and a textural personality to the headless figures thus, perhaps, providing redemption for the helpless nude figure involved in the exhibit. A great show. - Cheryl Jonah, Artist - Tunder Bay, Canada