Design by Anna Weber of Astoria Signs
EXHIBITION INFO
The exhibition at Ford Gallery will include an invite-only, socially distanced opening reception on September 26th, with viewing appointments available upon request. The reception will be live streamed on various social media platforms and an online gallery will show all work for sale. Information will be updated here as it becomes available.
SELECTED ARTIST IMAGES
As a companion to the exhibition, the Pre-Vinylettes’ Suffragette Centennial also includes a sixty-four page, standard size exhibition catalog with an essay by co-curator, Meredith Kasabian and images and artist statements by forty-three of the show’s artists.
When available, the catalog will be for sale at the SHOP link and can also be viewed here.
MURAL INFO
In addition to the exhibition and accompanying catalog, several Pre-Vinylettes will paint murals concurrently in both Portland, Oregon and Brisbane, Australia to celebrate the opening of this exhibition.
The mural, titled “Rebels with a Cause,” presents a garland of women from different cultures, ages, and backgrounds to honor the diversity of womxn in the sign painting field and beyond. The mural was designed by Norwegian designer and sign painter, Tone Emblemsvåg. The Portland mural will be led by co-curator, Remedios Rapoport, and the Brisbane mural will be led by Liane Barker of Brush and Pen Studio.
More information will be provided here as it becomes available.
PANEL DISCUSSION
The Pre-Vinylettes are also planning an online panel discussion to take place during the run of the show. The discussion will touch on topics including the culture of working in a historically male-dominated trade, sign painting techniques, and sign shop operation.
Check here for updated info.
THE PRE-VINYLETTES' SUFFRAGETTE CENTENNIAL
September 26 – October 25, 2020
Ford Gallery, Portland, Oregon
Please visit previnylettes.com for more info on this exhibition and accompanying events.
For all inquiries and press, please email previnylites@gmail.com
Curatorial Statement
As a follow-up to the world’s first all-women’s sign painting exhibition—2017’s The Pre-Vinylette Society: An International Showcase of Women Sign Painters— The Gentle Revolution is very pleased to present The Pre-Vinylettes’ Suffragette Centennial, a unique exhibition of hand painted signs made exclusively by women, trans, and post-binary sign painters in the commemorative spirit of this landmark anniversary in the history of women’s rights.
The Pre-Vinylettes’ Suffragette Centennial is intended as both a celebration and a critique of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which granted American women the right to vote in 1920. While this feminist achievement is universally lauded as a success, many of the Pre-Vinylette artists use this occasion to address the marginalization and suppression of suffrage that continues to this day for many women of color in America.
In the spirit of critical and intersectional feminism, this exhibition features hand painted signs that honor, critique, analyze, and / or reimagine how far women and nonmen have come in the last century and how far we have yet to go. As this exhibition takes place during a significant and contentious American election season, the artists take this opportunity to explore political topics, topics of women’s, trans, and post-binary empowerment, and themes of positive change for a healthier world.
The inspiration for this exhibition comes from Remedios Rapoport’s Gentle Revolution Mobile, a kinetic sign sculpture that encompasses the viewer with changing “word portrait” messages of healthy social change, which was a centerpiece of the 2017 Pre-Vinylette exhibition at Chicago Art Department. The mobile and messages of The Gentle Revolution manifesto serve as a platform for the 2020 Pre-Vinylettes’ Suffragette Centennial exhibition at Ford Gallery.
The exhibition runs from September 26 through October 25, 2020 at Ford Gallery in Portland, OR and is curated by Shelby Rodeffer, Meredith Kasabian, and Remedios Rapoport.
