Sarah Bednarek for Blackbird. Ideologues and Dictators: Lenin, Hitler, Ho Chi Minh, Khomeini, Mao, Marx, Mill, Stalin, Arafat, 12/2004, each approximately 6in x 3in x 1in, latex, false hair
Statement: In this piece I am examining my role in ideology. I am theatrically wearing fake beards, acting out the guise of public figures. Why do all these men have facial hair? Was it merely the fashion, or is it something deeper? How can a woman participate in this dialogue having no facial hair? What is my responsibility in this dialogue?
A joint venture of the Department of English at Virginia Commonwealth University and New Virginia Review, Inc, Blackbird Archive was an online journal of literature and the arts. Sarah Bednarek participated in the Blackbird Archive in 2005. Here is a overview of her presentation, which can also be viewed on the original website here.
Sarah Bednarek is a 2005 MFA graduate of the Sculpture and Extended Media program at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her work has been internationally showcased in Pork Barrel and Madison’s Cave at the Keith Talent Gallery, London, where she was also published in the art magazine Miser and Now (2005). Her exhibition record includes a solo show at the Paul Whitney Larson Art Gallery, St. Paul, Minnesota; curated shows at The Barrel Factory, Art Works, and the Anderson Gallery, all in Richmond, Virginia; and group exhibitions at the Stevenson Blanche Gallery, Valencia, California, and the 1708 Gallery and Plant Zero, both in Richmond. She has received numerous awards and scholarships in support of her art.
Sarah Bednarek’s video Podium Gestures marks a new effort for Blackbird, as it is our first of a continuing series of commissioned work of art by outstanding visual artists in the early stages of their careers.
“Gestures belie something about the individual using them. Fidgeting, pointing, pounding on the chest, all of these things connote the deeper characteristics of [public] officials. Gesture is a non-verbal language. Self-conscious gestures imply insincerity and unself-conscious gestures imply sincerity. . . “ —Sarah Bednarek
Podium Gestures joins here a selection of Bednarek’s work, pieces that feature adventurous, tension-producing juxtapositions and uneasy combinations—in Bednarek’s own words, "a melodramatic sense of the uncanny."
In addition to the video, you will find a triyptych of images created from used stuffed animals in Patriot Series and five additional works under Selected Work.