Garis & Hahn is pleased to present Between Our Ears, a solo exhibition by Fischer Cherry. The artist’s first solo exhibition with the gallery brings together paintings and sculptures from two series, Between Our Ears and Eager Apparitions, to address how selfie culture reflects and perpetuates the universality of the male gaze. In an age where gender and intersectional politics are in the public consciousness, Cherry’s paintings and sculptures challenge viewers to rethink the limitations of social consciousness and susceptibility to age-old struggles. The exhibition will open on September 8 and remain on view through October 20, 2018.

Between Our Ears is a series of sculptures that responds to a contemporary, collective experience of internalizing the male gaze. The first works in this new series are life-size, 3D printed sculptures of Cherry and female social media influencers in the act of taking selfies. In an endless cycle of objectification and self-doubt, which uniquely presents itself within a range of cultural contexts, even the most “culturally aware” influencers may have difficulty escaping.

Cherry’s sculptures will be exhibited in dialogue with Eager Apparitions, paintings that depict reflections of people taking selfies using the screen of the artist’s 24-karat gold coated sculptures. The paintings function as an offshoot of the sculptures, similarly addressing a collective internalization of the male gaze. However, the gold "mirrored" surface of her sculptures do not reflect the person true to form, and instead, the subjects bear a similar distortion effect to a circus fun house mirror. Eager Apparitions symbolically captures the ephemeral imprint onto the collective unconscious that all of us leave behind each time we post an image on the internet.

While social media and selfie culture have empowered women to embrace their beauty and “own” their image, it has also created a cognitive dissonance. In an age of empowerment when activists are challenging and diversifying the Eurocentric definition of beauty, a double standard exists promoting an ever-present subversive message to women that appearance is paramount. Between Our Ears aims to remind viewers of the merits beyond beauty, including talent, ingenuity, and intellect.

Fischer Cherry received a BA from Northwestern University and an MFA from the Brooks Institute of Photography. Initially working for David Lachapelle, then shooting fashion assignments for various publications, she shifted her practice full time to fine art in 2014, expanding into painting, sculpture and a range of interactive media. She has exhibited at The Brooklyn Museum of Art, Pulse Art Fair in Miami, FL, Sargent’s Daughters in New York and Garis & Hahn, New York and Los Angeles. Her work has received critical acclaim in The New York Times, artnet News, and Hyperallergic. Cherry’s work is part of the permanent collection of the Guild Hall Museum.