Scott Hunt

Excerpt from the Press Release

Salomon Contemporary presents Ladies & Gentlemen, a group exhibition that highlights a selection of artists who portray their own gender. The exhibition fuses a wide range of styles and tones, with some more serious and critical, and some lighthearted and humorous. Various works depict the figures in a more traditional sense as "ladies" and "gentlemen," while others challenge just the opposite.

Kiki Smith's biological work Daisy Chain will morph during the course of the exhibition, like the evolution of a caterpillar. in Spidey/Striptease, E.V. Day strings together a gender-bending work that unexpectedly pairs the recognizable superhero costume with bright red heels and fishnets. Judith Hudson's Bribe is a humorous comment on women's love and sacrifice—jewelry. Hilary Harkness's drawing Pearl Trader narrates an all-out fest amongst Rockettes while auctioning their DNA at Christie's. With genetics that can't be auctioned, Amy Cutler's Edna is anything but a lady.

As for the gents, Michael Halsband's iconic photograph of Klaus Nomi portrays the diva in his futuristic, neo-dandy attire. Dennis Oppenheim's motorized marionette tap dances to a soundtrack composed by the artist in Theme For a Major Hit. In Nir Hod's Genius a prodigal gent-in-training dressed in 18th century fashion smokes a cigarette during the sitting. Kurt Kauper, John Sonsini, and Scott Hunt's works demonstrate a more contemporary vision of a gentleman—a suited businessman balancing work and pleasure, a Latino musician posing with his guitar, and two men resting casually in a wintry landscape. Whether fantastical or realistic, the works in the exhibition are an eclectic grouping of men and women of all ages and types with faces both strange and familiar