Ewa Juszkiewicz's Distorted Portraits Challenge Feminine Beauty Ideals at Gagosian New York

Polish artist Ewa Juszkiewicz (born 1984 in Gdańsk) presents her first solo exhibition at Gagosian Gallery's Park & 75 space in New York, titled 'In vain her feet in sparkling laces glow' (a line from English poet Mary Leapor). The show runs until January 4, 2021. Juszkiewicz's paintings, created over nearly a decade, appropriate 18th- and 19th-century female portraiture—particularly Flemish works—but replace the sitters' faces with grotesque, surreal elements: rolled drapery, plants, insects, or knots of shiny hair. This distortion critiques the canonized beauty ideals imposed by society, which she found repetitive and depersonalizing. The works reference specific historical paintings by Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, Jan Adam Kruseman, Joseph Karl Stieler, and Adolf Ulrik Wertmüller. Juszkiewicz leaves the pieces untitled, making them near-copies until the absurd intervention. She incorporates contemporary fashion colors and cuts, especially in recent works, drawing inspiration from fashion that challenges stereotypical beauty. The juxtaposition of traditional attire with bizarre head coverings aims to liberate the vitality of women trapped for centuries by conventional poses. Juszkiewicz, based in Warsaw, describes a 'dissonance' in her perception of classical portraits: attracted by their skill but aware of their role in enforcing a historical vision of femininity.