Petzel Gallery is pleased to present two new print editions by Emily Mae Smith, Raft on Siren Sea (Day) and Raft on Siren Sea (Night). The complementary imagery of each print references the artist's 2017 painting of the same title, in two unique colorways, co-published by Elective Affinity and Brand X Editions.
In Raft on Siren Sea (Day) and Raft on Siren Sea (Night), as in much of Smith's oeuvre, she works to contextualize, through various historical references and precedents, the relationship between the representation of Woman throughout history and her own experiences and struggles as an artist. As the title implies, this work reterritorializes the classic notion of the femme-fatale through an examination of the myth of the siren.
Emily Mae Smith
Raft on Siren Sea (Day)
2022
4 color screenprint on Pescia 300gsm paper
24 x 18 inches / 61 x 45.7 cm
Edition of 100 + 20 AP + XX
Signed and editioned at bottom front
$3,500
Emily Mae Smith
Raft on Siren Sea (Night)
2022
5 color screenprint on Pescia 300gsm paper
24 x 18 inches / 61 x 45.7 cm
Edition of 100 + 20 AP + XX
Signed and editioned at bottom front
$3,500
Poster by Léon-Victor Solon advertising The Studio
Smith’s recurring use of “The Studio” is her philosophical reboot and revision of the 19th century illustrated art periodical of the same name. By plastering the title across her work and adapting the same Aubrey Beardsley Art Nouveau aesthetics, she assumes certain authority over narratives that is often afforded only to a publication rather than the individual. In doing so she places a distance between herself and the work that allows her the balance of autonomy and authority necessary to rewrite historical narratives.
The Siren Vase, 480BC–470BC, Collection of The British Museum
The strong graphical interpretation of the journey of Odysseus and satirical use of Art Nouveau letterpress typography attempt to revise the canonically defined narratives of the Woman. The Studio series is an incredible work of satire that manages to press the realities of Emily Mae Smith’s life and experiences as a woman artist right up against the millennia of pre-defined canons.
“I have used Art Nouveau and The Studio in my work as a parody of the difficult conditions I have faced as an artist. I don’t only paint what I like – I paint satire, ideas I want to change, or expose.” – Emily Mae Smith
