Perhaps the most fascinating and endlessly inspirational subject is ourselves. Meaning our personal selves, but also our shapes and forms as humans. The human body in its most pure and raw state is beautiful, confounding, provocative and mysterious. Visual artist Whitney Hubbs explores some of these themes and more in her latest solo exhibition at Los Angeles' M+B Gallery entitled Body Double.
Woman no. 8, 2016
signed, dated, titled and numbered verso
archival pigment print
32 x 40 inches
edition of 3 plus 2 artist's proofs
Hubbs' works appear both refined, yet unpolished. Her subjects are positioned in ways that showcase some of the body's most unique geometries and her use of vibrant color attracts the eye to the interesting textures used, but also highlights the contrast between color and flesh. From the artist:
When I'm in front of the camera, my body is being looked at, is being performed, is being directed and recorded. It is being taken apart and pieced back together.
We repeat and repeat, the same scene, against the same wall, with the same lights. We write the body on a piece of film. Film that's been pushed and prodded, mishandled and flipped. At a certain point I had to accept a bodily experience. It was pleasurable to look at their rough unpolished states, the bodies simply are: flipping, posing, being coy, arms as arrows, feet as poles, the lens as lover and mirror, the lens always looking back and being looked at, not by the face, but by the breasts, buttocks, heels, toes, shins, spines and throats, unhurried and happy to give that which can't be taken.
Woman no. 5, 2016
signed, dated and numbered verso
archival pigment print
32 x 40 inches
edition of 3 plus 2 artist's proofs
Born in Los Angeles in 1977, Hubbs received her MFA from UCLA and BFA from California College of the Arts. Most recently, Hubbs had her first solo museum exhibition at the California Museum of Photography at the University of California, Riverside. Her work is included in the current exhibition, After Effect, at Ballroom Marfa, TX. Other recent shows include Vapegoat Rising at Arturo Bandini, Los Angeles; New Babylon at Roberts and Tilton,
We love the mood and imagery of these works. Hubbs constructs and deconstructs the female form and emphasizes that we are all made up of and many different parts to create a whole. Her use of limbs, torsos and other intricacies create a wonderful perspective of the human body as well as the dichotomies of primitive and evolved to raw and refined. The result is something that is always beautiful.
Woman no. 6, 2016
signed, dated, titled and numbered verso
archival pigment print
40 x 32 inches
edition of 3 plus 2 artist's proofs
Body Double is on view now until May 7th at M+B Gallery, located at 612 N. Altamont Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90069. For more information, please visit the gallery's official page and for more Whitney Hubbs, please visit here.
-JRS
Left:
Woman no. 3, 2016
signed, dated, titled and numbered verso
archival pigment print
40 x 32 inches
edition of 3 plus 2 artist's proofs
Right:
Woman no. 2, 2016
signed, dated, titled and numbered verso
archival pigment print
40 x 32 inches
edition of 3 plus 2 artist's proofs