Peep & Strip Show - This Thursday

Join Rosemary Feit Covey
this Thursday for the opening reception of Peep and Strip Show at The Art League Gallery (in Old Town Alexandria) on March 11th at 6:30pm and enjoy a Cabaret Dance performance.

Feit Covey is easily one of the most talented print makers in our region, although the term prin tmaker is beginning to not be enough when discussing this artist, as her amazing installation a while back at the Arlington Arts Center proved; and this show will debut some "light boxes" that I'm really stoked to go and see.

From the press release:

When peering through a keyhole, we consciously know we’re viewing something that wasn’t meant for our eyes, and therefore it becomes exciting and forbidden. Rosemary Feit Covey’s provocative images forces the viewer into the role of voyeur, either by demanding the viewer to observe her engravings through a peep show box, or on a photographer’s light box. Suggestive rather than overtly explicit, her wood engravings subtly deal with obsession on many levels. Peep and Strip Show will be featured at The Art League Gallery at the Torpedo Factory March 11–April 5, 2010.

The “Strip” series focuses on obsession. The images Covey created are based on the relationship between an actual couple. Tantalizing and a little naughty, the viewer is left wondering what the story is behind these characters. The engravings are printed on Japanese papers and phone book pages, and then the vertical strips are encased in encaustic medium. The strips are presented on a light box like a photographer would use to dry negatives and prints and to view his/her work. When displayed in groups horizontally, the effect is akin to a dark comic book or graphic novel.

In Covey’s “Peep Show” series, she combines the secret, sexual world associated with the modern definition of “Peep Show” with the innocent world of Victorian-era peep show boxes. In order to view the engravings, the viewer must bend uncomfortably to glimpse through the peephole, which forces them into the role of voyeur. The prints in this series are evocative and suggestive rather than blatantly sexual. The boxes themselves are custom designed and beautifully handcrafted by a master cabinetmaker. These peep boxes are replicated and inspired by the elegant peep show boxes circa 1820.

Peep Show boxes date back as far as 500 years ago, designed by artists and scientists to portray a variety of subject matter. During the 18th and 19th Centuries, peep show viewing was a popular and innocent form of street entertainment. By using lenses and mirrors, a private, interior world was created by peering into a mysterious box. The term Peep Show ultimately came to be most closely associated with viewing pornographic films and live sex shows.