“Sharing” Yumiko Kayukawa Above Second is proud to present a group exhibition featuring the original works of six talented artists: Emily Burns, Yumiko Kayukawa, Erika Yamashiro, Crajes, Sonya Fu, and Ray Caesar. How are women portrayed in contemporary art? Is it all about seduction? The voyeuristic? Can women be powerful and independent even when subject to the Gaze? The psychological effect of the gaze as described by Jacques Lacan is that the subject looses a degree of autonomy upon realizing she is a visual object. In her 1975 essay “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema,” Laura Mulvey uses Lacan’s concept of the gaze to analyze the objectification of women in film, and thus by extension visual art. Mulvey’s feminist theory questions the objectification of women in art. But today, with women and men supposedly equals in society, perhaps this objectification can be subverted. In this group exhibition, all of the subjects are so much more than just “pretty girls.” The artists bring together a multifaceted view of women in contemporary society, showing the diversity of the female form, personalities, desires, and fantasies. Meeting together from around the world, and working in disparate styles and mediums, these artists converge through their exploration of the intricacies of female sexuality, beauty, and the gaze. “Pink Dress” Emily Burns