The Perfumed Handkerchief

February 13 – 27

Brunch and Opening:
Sunday, February 13, 1 – 3pm

Closing Party, Book Release, and Performances:
February 26, 7 – 12am

Open Hours: Saturdays and Sundays, 12 – 6pm, and by appointment

The Perfumed Handkerchief is themed on grotesque beauty, featuring over the top, overly ornate artwork. Laden with traditional beauty icons that verge on the extreme, the works are inspired by Rococo’s ornate symbolization of love and desire. Decorative arts, architecture, and dress worked in tandem to produce an immersive environment of florid ornament. The title The Perfumed Handkerchief refers to the way perfume was used during the eighteenth century. It was less often worn as something to attract or allure others; rather, it was worn for the sensation of the wearer, dabbed onto a handkerchief or glove and held to the nose. This not only blocked the putrid smells of the streets and gutters, but also provided an interior sensory world for the person wearing the scent. Like the veil or the handkerchief, the works gathered here create an internal universe. In its separation from reality, art becomes fantastic and beautiful, as well as grotesque and monstrous. Through performance, installation, video, and painting, The Perfumed Handkerchief creates a place in which the line between desire and repulsion is almost indiscernible.

Curated by Flux Artist-in-Residence Alison Ward.

For event inquiries, contact texandtrixie (at) hotmail.com or call 917 613-6016. For press, please contact info (at) fluxfactory.org.

Participating Artists: Ion Birch, Mike Estabrook, Hannah Heilmann, Jaime Iglehart, Jayson Keeling, Sarah Kipp, Michelle Matson, Shiri Mordechay, Matthew-Robin Nye, Alison Ward, John Ward, Angela Washko, and Barnaby Whitfield.

Image courtesy of Sarah Kipp. The Liar, 2010.