Allegra LaViola Gallery and Curator Susi Kenna Present: Toxic Women Works by Andrea Mary Marshall

Online, November 11, 2011 (Newswire.com) - Allegra LaViola Gallery and curator Susi Kenna are pleased to present Toxic Women, a provocative new body of work by Andrea Mary Marshall. This will be the artist's premier New York City solo exhibition. Through a series of self-portraits rendered as paintings, photographs, and film, Marshall examines the intersection of identity, female sexuality, and consumer culture in the context of the "ideal woman."

"A Woman is a beast. She is as lovely as she is repulsive. She is one part demon and one part goddess...one part slave, one part muse...one part child and one part mother...these contradictions are what make a woman so intoxicating." - Andrea Mary Marshall

Toxic Women is a narrative collection of work that looks at the implications of trying to live up to the cultural figment of the "ideal woman". Through identity play that borders on performance, Marshall reinvents herself as highly developed characters meticulously crafted through the art of fashion, makeup, wigs, and props. For her series of "Vague Covers", Marshall depicts the "toxic woman" as a dichotomy, born out of a pursuit of the ideal, simultaneously adored and rejected by society. There is the addict, the temptress, the woman with no boundaries, the self-saboteur, the perfectionist and the fame whore-archetypical toxic women Marshall has both encountered and embodied. Beginning with the "Vague Covers", and carried out through the entire collection, the work explores the space where feelings for this toxic woman turn from infatuation to disgust, from attraction to repulsion.

"We all have our demons. We can't move into the light unless we're willing to look at our darkness." - Andrea Mary Marshall

For her series of "Demon Paintings", Marshall paints herself into contradictions and conflicts of identity that demonize the muse, melding religious iconography, sexuality, fashion and fetishism with a lexicon of repetitive motifs used throughout the artist's practice. Against black-painted canvas, she renders herself as that historical fiction of female identity: one part Madonna, one part whore. She is a luminous Cicciolina-as-Christ-the-Shepherdess, or a masturbatory St. Theresa clad in Viktor and Rolf. These metaphorical self-portraits act as a two-way mirror, reflecting on Marshall's own dual nature while judging herself from within a culture based on a constant comparison to the "ideal woman."

While the work is mostly self-portraiture, it does not concern itself with communicating within a vacuum of the artist's own experience, nor does it only have to do with women. Rather, it speaks to the larger grand narrative and opens up the space to ask the viewer, "What are your demons?"

Andrea Mary Marshall was born in Massachusetts in 1982. She received her Bachelors of Fine Arts from Parsons the New School for Design in 2006. Her work has appeared in numerous group exhibitions, including 400 Women (Shoreditch Town Hall, London, UK), Grupo de los Diecseis Exhibition (Hacienda de los Morales, Mexico City), and Ni Una Mas (The Juarez Murders) (Leonard Pearlstein Gallery, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA). She lives and works in New York City.

ARTIST'S WEBSITE: http://www.AndreaMaryMarshall.com

Allegra LaViola Gallery opened in 2008. The focus of the gallery is both emerging and mid-career artists, with an emphasis on painting, installation and performance related work. The gallery is interested in promoting the fullness of the artist's vision, and has been host to a variety of conceptual projects and installations, including performance series and one-night events.

FOR GALLERY INFORMATION VISIT: http://www.allegralaviola.com/

Calendar Editors:
What: Toxic Women: Paintings, film and photography by Andrea Mary Marshall in her inaugural New York solo exhibition

When: Opening Reception: December 9, 2011 6:30 PM - 9:30 PM
Exhibition Dates: December 9 - 22, 2011
Gallery Hours: Wed - Sat, NOON - 6:00 PM, SUN 1:00 PM - 6:00 PM, and by apppointment

Where: Allegra LaViola Gallery
179 East Broadway
New York, NY

MEDIA CONTACT: Lainya Magana [email protected]
FOR NY and SF PUBLIC RELATIONS VISIT: http://www.aopublic.com