Exploring the Construction of Gender and Self

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True Story, on exhibit at the BU Art Galleries through Dec. 17, presents video and photographic work by the Brooklyn-based performance artist Martine Gutierrez.

Using various media idioms such as classic Hollywood film, fashion photography, and music videos, Gutierrez’s hauntingly seductive imagery explores the construction of gender and self. In each of her projects Gutierrez casts herself in different roles—from pop star, to Italian heiress, to exotic dancer. While her characters appear familiar, they are not representations of reality; rather, they are hyperbolized manifestations of feminine glamour, desire, and sexuality. Gutierrez’s work, always narrative, calls attention to the fictions that surround and define us—those we internalize through daily life and those we create for ourselves.  The exhibition is curated by Jordan Karney Chaim, doctoral candidate and Raymond and Margaret Horowitz Foundation Fellow in American Art at Boston University.