The senior exhibit of Angela Rae Mackey, an art major at East Central University, will be on exhibit at 6:30 p.m. Thursday [MAY 7, 2009] in the vicinity of Julianna Park in downtown Ada.
The exhibit, titled "Voice," includes 20 of Mackey's watercolors on wooden panels and will be presented as a work of performance art on the street in view of the public.
A few of the subjects are inspired by symbols of heroic women like Artemisia Gentileschi's "Judith and Holoferne" and John Collier's "Lady Godiva." Mackey said she is very passionate about women's rights in Iraq and Afghanistan and hopes that through her art she can express the need for immediate attention to that cause.
The performance will consist of human subjects wearing traditional burqas. The human subjects will function as easels, with the burqa symbolically standing in opposition to the more liberated images, she said.
"This performance will be used to engage the public with a non-scripted event in real time," Mackey said. "The presentation of the work will not stand alone in benefiting the cause. Forty percent of the proceeds acquired from the sale of each piece will be donated to an organization helping the women's current situation in their countries."
Mackey said the paintings were created quickly in order not to lose the emotion of the lines and composition. Her use of colors such as reds and violets are designed to impart a sense of drama.
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