Noriko Shinohara: Cutie and Bullie

Curated by Cayllan Cassavia

02 May – 07 August 2016

 
Cutie and Bullie features the manga-inspired work of the New-York-based Japanese artist Noriko Shinohara, the unsung heroine of Cutie and the Boxer (2013), nominated for an Academy Award for best documentary feature. The centerpiece of the exhibition is a 64-foot painting entitled Love is a Roarrr—!!!, which immerses viewers in the narrative world of Cutie and Bullie, fictional characters representing the artist and her husband Ushio Shinohara, the famed “boxing painter.” Cutie is an alter ego that gives Noriko Shinohara the freedom to mix fact with fiction in telling the story of her 1972 immigration from Japan to New York City, complex marriage, and struggle to balance motherhood and her art career. The mural unfolds as a series of vignettes starting with the couple’s initial love-struck meeting, descent into unhappiness, and Cutie’s eventual revelation that she can control her destiny and reclaim her life by harnessing her creative powers.