press release

THE ALL GIRLS SCHOOL
November 10 – December 22, 2005

NEW YORK, NY — jen bekman presents Mara Bodis-Wollner’s solo debut, The All Girls School, an exhibition of a series of ten photographs. The exhibition will be on view from November 10 – December 22, 2005 at jen bekman, located at 6 Spring Street between Elizabeth and Bowery, New York, 10012. Jen Bekman will host an opening reception for the artist on Thursday, November 10, from 6:00 – 8:00pm at the gallery.

The images of The All Girls School expose the unspoken exclusions and discomfort manifested in women’s body language and gestures in social interactions. These carefully constructed images are rich in narrative and are a natural progression from Bodis-Wollner’s earlier detailed, subtle interiors, which are also rich with human emotion and resonance.

In her statement, Bodis-Wollner writes, "These photographs stem from my interest in the experience of disappointment amidst a celebration. I focus on issues of trust, intimacy and betrayal within friendships among women and girls. I explore how gesture and gaze function to create an outsider, and the ways in which these visual clues shift ostracism from one subject to another both inside and outside of the photograph."

Bodis-Wollner received her MFA from Bard College and her BA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. In 1999, she received a Fulbright Scholarship to Hungary where she created a body of photographic work documenting the changing physical environment in Hungary 10 years after the fall of Socialism.

Ms. Bekman, the gallery’s founder and curator, comments: "The All Girls School is a major milestone. Mara helped establish the gallery’s program and solidified my commitment to both emerging artists and contemporary photography. The gallery comes full circle with her solo exhibition which represents everything I love about curating my gallery’s program: she’s gone from being an emerging artist to finding a singular voice and mounting a show that is at once beautiful and haunting."

Since its inaugural exhibition in March of 2003, jen bekman has attracted the attention of critics, museum curators and collectors alike. Gallery artists and exhibitions have been featured in publications such as ARTFORUM, The New York Times, Interior Design, W Magazine, The Village Voice and New York Magazine. The gallery also has a well-established online presence having been featured on sites such as Curbed, Daily Candy, Gawker, and Gothamist. Ms. Bekman, the gallery's founder and director, is the editor of the popular design weblog, Personism, bringing the gallery and its artists to the attention of an even broader audience of designers, architects, and magazine editors.

Gallery Hours:
Thursday — Saturday, 2pm–7pm, Sunday, 2pm–6pm, or by appointment. 

For images or more information, please contact Lauren Cerand: 917.533.0103 or press@jenbekman.com

To download this release as a PDF, click here.