The International Studio & Curatorial Program announces the unveiling of MARTINE GUTIERREZ: JEANS, an offsite project by visual artist Martine Gutierrez, who is a current resident and New York Community Trust Van Lier fellow of ISCP. Located at the Southeast corner of 9^th Avenue and 37^th Street in Manhattan, Gutierrez presents a 10-foot-high by 22-foot-wide advertising billboard with a highly charged image of the artist posing as a model wearing a fictitious brand of denim jeans. This public work will be installed five stories high over Manhattan’s Garment District.

In MARTINE GUTIERREZ: JEANS, Gutierrez takes control of her own exploitation by addressing issues of gender politics and the public gaze. She uses the mechanisms of consumerism, positioning herself as both product and consumer. In doing so, Gutierrez’s work confronts ‘othered’ portrayals of artists of color and LGBTQ individuals in the media.

Acting as subject, artist, and muse, Gutierrez investigates personal and collective identity, composing the self through the guise of makeup, costume and pose. Navigating through fluid conceptions of perceived gender and ethnicity, Gutierrez employs diverse narratives of femininity. Employing pop-cultural tropes, she casts herself in roles that society would never consider her for—the ‘Hollywood actress,’ the ‘pop star,’ the ‘supermodel.’ While her characters appear familiar, often contextualized by seemingly high-budget settings, they are not representations of reality. Rather, they are hyperbolized manifestations of perceived feminine glamour, desire, and sexuality, fabricated from humble materials and temporary sets.

Martine Gutierrez (born 1989) received her BFA in Printmaking from the Rhode Island School of Design. Born to a Guatemalan father and white American mother, her cross-cultural background informs her fluid self-navigation as she has always straddled both cultures. Current and recent exhibitions include Martine Gutierrez: True Story, Boston University Art Galleries; Martine Gutierrez: WE & THEM & ME, Contemporary Art Museum Raleigh, North Carolina; Disturbing Innocence, The FLAG Art Foundation, New York; and About Face: Self-Portraiture in Contemporary Art, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover. Her work has been acquired by the Hood Museum of Art for their permanent collection. Gutierrez is also a published musician and has produced several commercial videos. She is represented by RYAN LEE Gallery in New York.

Dedication Event: On Tuesday, December 13, a week after the billboard is erected, Martine Gutierrez will speak about her artwork onsite from 11–11:30am.

The billboard will be on view from December 5, 2016 through January 1, 2017, at 9^th Avenue and 37^th Street in Manhattan, adjacent to Lincoln Tunnel.

This project is coordinated by Juliana Cope, Director of Development and Programs Manager at ISCP.

MARTINE GUTIERREZ: JEANS is made possible through the generous support of the New York Community Trust Edward and Sally Van Lier Fund, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the New York State Council on the Arts, and the Milton & Sally Avery Arts Foundation. Special thanks to Helena Jackson-Enders and RYAN LEE Gallery for their support.