Marianna Beck at Canyon Road

“Date Night”, 2023

Marianna Beck

Venuses of the Anthropocene

Bricolage

Sept 15th—30th, 2023

Opening

Sept 15th, 5-7pm

This series, Venuses of the Anthropocene, derives its inspiration from the earliest representations of the female form — starting with prehistoric figures like the Venus of Willendorf to the pantheon of female deities that emerged many thousands of years later.

 They speak to our current epoch — a time period labeled “Anthropocene” in which humanity has become a geological superpower bringing profound and rapid changes to the environment. Not unlike their ancient counterparts whose symbolic function remains mysterious and unknowable, these modern “Venuses” are statements of the current Zeitgeist.

https://www.thepartysjustbegun.com/

Marianna Beck is an artist exploring the cultural landscape and historical narratives of the female body.  A neuro-typical Midwesterner filled with nihilistic dread and blind optimism, she has also written and lectured extensively on the history of sex, fashion and culture and published, under the name of M. L. Collins,  a novel — Out the Door! — that won Book of the Year in Indie Fiction from the Chicago Writers Association. The series, “Venuses of the Anthropocene,” seeks to fuse historical spelunking with the current Zeitgeist.

Made from clay, bronze, found objects and other civilizational detritus, they project current beliefs, perceptions and fears. Some serve as cultural flashpoints —"Patriarchy,” “American Aphrodite,” “We Back the Vag” — while others are faceless oracles of an uncertain future, flirting with ambiguity. 

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