Daisy Chain: Bianca Casady at Cheim & Read

Bianca Casady's delicately composed exploration of prison––in the literal as well as the metaphorical sense––is fashioned mostly from gay porn magazines and old wildflower books. Thrown in for good measure are rusty chains, amethysts, feathers, hair, ravaged leather boots, newspaper clippings, vintage picture frames, glitter, and stickers, among other miscellaneous bits. From the barely-there watercolor in her portraits of Black-eyed Susan-bearing criminals, to the purposeful placement of tiny objects in her installation pieces, it's safe to say that Casady's hand is felt through and through.

It's also clear that Jean Genet (the French novelist who examined prison through a romantic, homoerotic gaze) had a hand in influencing the young multimedia artist, who is also known to music fans as CocoRosie: In Casady's interpretation of the prison space, there are instances of abortion, sex changes, sexual modesty. But the conversation also expands to touch on pop culture (she references the former Rikers Island rez Lil Wayne) and society's outcasts in general. The incarceration fantasy that Casady paints is one where beauty meets horror. And it is rough, ghostly, thuggish, eerie, and fragile.

CHEIM & READ
547 W. 25th Street
New York, NY 10011
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