Nina Mae Fowler - exploring the Hollywood myth

Suzanne Tarasieve

22 days left

Nina Mae Fowler - exploring the Hollywood myth

Suzanne Tarasieve

22 days left

Through her work, Nina Mae Fowler explores the tensions and contrasts inherent in the Hollywood world. With her A Little Piece and Love Mass series, she questions celebrity, femininity and the pressures imposed on actresses. Through meticulous charcoal drawing and archival research, she reveals often hidden facets of these cinema icons.
The A Little Piece series was inspired by a striking scene in which actress Jean Peters receives a glittering liquid on her face. Nina Mae Fowler transcribes this moment in black and white charcoal, accentuating contrasts and playing with light to create an atmosphere that is both unsettling and striking.
In this way, Fowler questions the place of women in this industry, often reduced to objects of desire or trophies. The imposing size of her works, highlights the intense emotions that emanate from them. Jean Peters thus becomes the symbol of a Hollywood culture that Nina Mae Fowler counters, revealing the excessive pressure and expectations placed on actresses.
A Little Piece : Part VII, 2022, Charcoal on paper, 110 x 170 cm
the Love Mass series
With the Love Mass series, Nina Mae Fowler continues her exploration of female cinema figures, this time through in-depth archival work on Marlene Dietrich. Far from the sophisticated and distant image shaped by Hollywood, the drawings in the Love Mass series depict a maternal and vulnerable woman. Inspired by these archival documents, Nina Mae Fowler proposes a more human and emotional reading of the celebrity, going beyond the simple media gaze.
Love Mass series. P.S. I am happy, 2022, Pencil on paper, 19 x 22 cm
The sculptures in this series complement this narrative, transforming emotions and memories into tangible objects. By associating these works with extracts from the letters exchanged between Marlene and Michael, the artist gives voice to the feelings expressed in these correspondences, adding a poignant dimension to her work.
Love Mass series. Can’t you stay a little while?, 2022, Plaster and antique typewriter, 15 x 15 cm
Through these two series, Nina Mae Fowler highlights the ambivalence of this industry, both fascinating and oppressive, and reveals the pressures exerted on these women by the male gaze and societal expectations. With A Little Piece and Love Mass, Nina Mae Fowler invites us to look beyond the myth and rediscover these women in all their humanity.
Love Mass series. It lights up my lonely life, 2022, Pencil on paper, 24 x 29 cm
These two series were shown in a solo exhibition at Suzanne Tarasieve Gallery in Paris in 2023. More recently, the gallery presented other of her works at Drawing Now Art Air dedicated to contemporary drawings.
Love Mass series. If I would die tomorrow, 2022, Pencil on paper, 27 x 36 cm