"Electra takes off her clothes, drops her mask and exposes herself in front of her inner eye. The intimacy with which she encounters herself overwhelms her. Electra's gaze is her own, showing will of her image and representation. An intimate contemplation, close and vulnerable. From this springs her strength and gives her the power to accept herself, her essence.
Now she is able to be greater than what is ascribed to her. She holds up a mirror to the feminism of the mother, lets it become a monument out of gratitude. Never forget, never forgive. She radicalizes herself. Removed from the dichotomy, Electra crystallizes into a networked organism. Electra Dynamics – Intelligent Society Application. Feminist Software Solutions. She dreams of an Other, of a world in which gender, sexuality and origin are not categories of oppression, in which people recognize their interdependence: Understand themselves as humanity and live their complexity. Into the cloud, the new frontier. A space in which spirit materializes and physicality condenses. Here in the network, sexuality and relationships are not a question of taboo, but an experience of consensus. Electra dreams and dances – an ecstatic power strip – into a (con)sensual future."
Following on from the artists' engagement with the theme of gender relations in the 2017 exhibition, the curators developed a concept that builds on this previous thinking. The title Power Strip is a reference to the bond that was formed between the exhibiting artists after the first +FEM show. Power Strip represents the collectivity and connectedness of women artists. The show will therefore feature works by some of the artists already exhibited in 2017, which will be set into a new thematical relation with the works by broader network of artists in the second show.
Power Strip is also the enterprise to find the energy to address the theme of empowerment artistically. Likewise, the title includes the connotation of discarding and exposing of alledged power or strength, revealing from within intimacy, ambivalence, and insecurities. Power Strip thus sets various media and thematic fields in dialogue.
The exhibition was funded by Frauenreferat Frankfurt and Ladiez. Kulturelle und politische Bildung für Frauen e.V.
Photo credits: Anton Sahler
