Surrealist exploration of gender, class and domesticity through the lens of a 1970s dinner party
Exhibition Dates :
* October 3 – December 31
Join Poet and the Bench for the West Coast Premier of multimedia artist Amanda Rowan's provocative Place Setting and Ritual self-portrait images and still lifes in conjunction with her short film Place Setting; the latter was selected for inclusion in the 46th Mill Valley Film Festival in October.
Highly performative, Rowan’s work tells timeless stories of domesticity through a cinematic lens. Within the film Place Setting, she plays a solitary housewife who creates and destroys a glamorous 1970s-style dinner party through retro gestures.
The film is a sculptural and performance piece that is at once a celebration of matriarchy and the art and flair of the hostess; while simultaneously eluding to collective generational trauma through its deconstruction.
"Unquestionably maximalist, Rowan’s “Ritual” pieces are styled with a collector’s eye."
Raised in Mill Valley, this is Amanda's return to her hometown with a narrative of the moment.
The Place Setting film and photographs take the notion of the forgotten and exploited females of the past, and the iconography associated with them, as a way to respond to contemporary mores– asking in what ways is depicting and performing the feminine a constraint and in what ways is it power?
Free Admission to most events at Poet and the Bench.
Tickets are required for the Mill Valley Film Festival screenings.
Phone: 415-569-4383
Additional time info:
Schedule
Place Setting Exhibition at Poet and/the Bench
Tuesday, October 3, 5:30-7:30 pm, Opening, Live Tablescape Installation
Saturday, October 7, 2:30-5:30 pm, Tea with Amanda
Place Setting, Ritual and Dramatic Landscapes On View Ongoing
Gallery Hours
Tuesday - Saturday, 10:30 am-5:00 pm;
Sunday, 11:00am-4:00 pm
Place Setting premiers at the 46th Mill Valley Film Festival
Monday, October 9, at 8:00 pm at the Rafael 3
Tuesday, October 10, at 2:00 pm at the Rafael 3
2023/10/03 - 2023/12/31
Poet and the Bench
11 Throckmorton Avenue, Mill Valley, CA 94941
Metered parking, free street parking and parking lots.