The University of Liverpool’s Victoria Gallery and Museum (VGM) presents LINDA STEIN: Gender ScramblingThis exhibition features the work of American Artist Linda Stein (b. 1943) which explores and inverts stereotypes about gender. This exhibition by American artist Linda Stein (1943) examines and inverts stereotypes of gender and role.
The free exhibition, on until 2 September 2023, features 26 prints from Linda Stein’s series of the same name plus one of her metre-high Knight Adagio Film short and her sculptures Running (2008).
Stein is a feminist artist from New York. She has been committed to the LGBTQ+ feminist and LGBTQ+ movements through her art since the 1960s. Her work includes everything from large sculptures to drawings, prints, collages, and paintings.
Stein, who was displaced from her Tribeca studio and home for nearly a year, was forced to leave her Tribeca residence in 2001 after the terrorist attacks on New York. Linda Stein’s artworks reflect the trauma of this sense of panic.
Linda creates a visual world in which men wear dresses, and women wear armor. The lines between genders become blurred and the result is androgyny. She encourages the oppressed ‘other’ to be their own superheroes and fight their own battles. She is committed to themes such as protection and courage in the face bullying, and struggle for social justice.
Linda Stein said: “Artistically, I want to use my work to change social consciousness and to inspire activism in the name of peace, equality, and diversity. With my androgynous forms and pop-culture icons, I invite the viewer to seek diversity in unpredictable ways, to ‘try on’ new personal avatars and self-definitions.”
The art displayed in LINDA STEIN: Gender Scrambling are part of the University of Liverpool’s permanent art collection and were generously gifted by Mr Raymond C. Learsy in 2022. It is the first time that they have been exhibited. The exhibition at the VGM runs concurrently with a major retrospective of Linda Stein’s career at the Konstmuseet i Skövde, Sweden called Androgynous Protection: A Linda Stein Retrospective (22 April – 10 September 2023).
The exhibition is curated by Dr Amanda Draper, Curator of Art & Exhibitions, University of Liverpool.
VGM: More information
The Victoria Gallery & Museum (Ashton Street, L69 3DR) is open Tuesday to Saturday, 10am – 5pm and admission to the exhibition is free. For further information visit: https://vgm.liverpool.ac.uk/ or follow the VG&M on Instagram, Twitter Facebook
Image credit: Gender Scrambling: Astaire, Rodgers by Linda Stein. © Linda Stein