Typology of Women
In her series Typology of Women, the artist Bastienne Schmidt shows a series of hand painted cut-outs that represent silhouettes of different types of women. The term “typology” has been consciously chosen, as it refers to the study or the systematic classification of types that share certain characteristics. The comparison of forms and the study thereof is based on well-known artistic working principles, such as the artists Ernst and Hilla Becher, and On Kawara. Bastienne Schmidt’s silhouettes in luminous orange show a feminist and ironic twist to the reading of Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex. Referring to the relationship and function of females in history, this project is inspired by ancient Greek ceramics, as well as Japanese woodcuts, fairytales and American pop culture. Typology of Women expresses both the reduction of the represented female form and its almost infinite diversity. A monograph entitled Typology of Women was published by Jovis in 2016 with an introduction by Mimi Thompson. Typology of Woman was exhibited in a one person exhbition at Ricco Maresca Gallery in New York as well in group exhibitions at Penn State University and the Nassau County Museum.