PAST EXHIBITION
Valerie Hird: Hero Worship
December 6, 2007—December 9, 2007

Press Release

HERO WORSHIP is a sometimes sardonic, sometimes serious review of ways we interact with heroic myths. In reaction to the escalation of media images of unending war, famine and hopeless poverty – and our seeming inability to find timely and meaningful solutions - many people have developed a reactive but real longing for a more simplified heroic ideal. HERO WORSHIP examines some of the ways their longing manifests itself and how we identify with popular but simplistic cultural icons. Our heroes penetrate all strata of culture; from endorsing consumer products to providing muscular solutions for society’s more intractable problems. They are the hopeful face of every person’s desire to be more than human.
 EMPIRES RISE (EMPIRES FALL) speaks to the repetition of empire and to the fact that power….no matter how great… is temporal. YARD GODDESS, articulates the yearning of a young woman overwhelmed by circumstance – by isolation, the stress of children and large mortgage payments - to slip into a more colorful and exciting identity.
WEEKEND WARRIOR, is an ‘in the closet’ intimation that weekend fantasies can secretly replace the stress and tedium of the heavy work week.
COOL CHICK, suggests that real heroes and villains are not as easily distinguishable from one another as simplistic depictions might illustrate. THROUGH THE GLASS DARKLY, is a twist on the Pygmalion myth, in which the artist/creator falls in love with his/her creation. In this manifestation, the created object - a predatory Sphinx - awakens the ‘Oedipal’ instincts of the creator.
HERO WORSHIP I, HERO WORSHIP II, The images explore the contemporary perception of the heroic myth as conceived by a generation whose primary arena is the internet, video games, science fiction thrillers and TV news infotainment. WARHOL’S LEGACY, allows us a look skyward toward icons to which many aspire but whose fame may not linger longer than Warhol’s famous phrase.

A video animation of SUPERHEROES will be shown as well as a series of drawings and digital prints of the heroes in a state of metamorphosis.
This exhibition will be accompanied by a catalogue. For a pdf copy, please email us at nohrahaime@aol.com

RED DOT Miami Beach Room 104
December 6 – 9, 2007
South Seas Hotel: 1751 Collins Avenue between 17th & 18th Streets
Thursday, December 6, 11am – 9 pm
Opening Reception, 7 - 9 pm
Friday - Sunday, 11 am – 8 pm

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