Miss Van
Miss Van, named Vanessa Alice Bensimon (also known as Vanessa Castex), was born in 1973 in Toulouse, France, is a graffiti and street artist.[1][2] Miss Van starting painting on the street of Toulouse alongside Mademoiselle Kat at the age of 18. Today, Miss Van is now internationally known as a street and fine artist. Primarily, her work is marked by the use of unique characters, called poupées, or dolls.[3] Miss Van's work has appeared on streets internationally, although she also exhibits canvases in galleries across France, Europe and the United States.[1] Today, her work is characterized by both street art and fine art, blurring the lines between both worlds.[4]
Miss Van currently resides in Barcelona, Spain. From Barcelona, she has written and published several books with the publishing house Drago and coordinated several art shows across Europe.[5] She remains one of the most famous female street and graffiti artists in the world, recognized as one of the top figures in early 21st-century street art canon.[6]
Artwork
In her artwork, Miss Van typically depicts sloe-eyed[7] women, covering a varied array of female forms and expressing many different emotions.[8] Common themes in her work include eroticism, sexuality, desire and innocence which are represented by animal masks, pastel colors, and revealing clothing.[2][4] Miss Van's work illustrates a cartoonish, dream-like world of female sexuality.[9] Over time the stylization of the women has changed, reflecting Miss Van's artistic and personal evolution as she has grown and matured.[9] This change is paralleled in Miss Van's increased preference for the gallery over the street.[9] In the gallery, Miss Van embraces enclosed and intimate space gallery space as part of the artistic experience .[9]
Between 2008 and 2016, Miss Van exhibited artwork in many private galleries across the globe. In Asia, she has held a show in Shanghai.[4] In Europe, she has exhibited in London, Rome, Berlin, Paris and Vienna.[4] In North America, she has held shows in Detriot,[10] Santa Monica, Los Angeles, Montreal, Chicago and New York.[4] Several Notable Shows include, Still a Little Magic at Upper Playground, San Francisco in 2008; Cachetes Colorados at Upper Playground, Mexico City in 2010; and A Moment in Time at Saatchi Gallery, London in 2016.[4] The same year, Miss Van also showed at the Atmossphere Biennale in Moscow, Russia, where she exhibited a woven wool rug based on an original painting.[11]
Critical reception
Thematically, her work has provoked a negative reaction from some feminists due to the portrayal of women in her graffiti.[1] Although she receives this backlash, her reasoning for her painting is more personal. "Painting on walls was a way to show that I was boycotting the conventional art world".[12] Despite negative critique of her work, some critics perceive her portrayal of sexuality and feminity as a powerful rejection of male supremacy and male-dominated art.[9] Her work is also appreciated for centering women and increasing the representation of women in street art.[9] Furthermore, the depiction of a full-figured female form in Miss Van's work is representative of body positive politics.[13] Miss Van is regarded as one of the most famous female graffiti and street artists in the world, a genre that is generally considered as having few female artists.[13]
In 2016, Miss Van held her first institutional art show at Centro de Arte Contemporáneo de Málaga in Spain, titled “For The Wind in My Hair."[2] The show featured 39 original paintings on canvas. Artnet News calls the show as "interesting discourse between the worlds of fine art and street art."[2] Miss Van also displays how meaning changes between these two two aritstic sties, the street and gallery.[9]
Publications
Books
Books with contributions by Miss Van
- Pop Surrealism: What a Wonderfool World (2010) Drago
- Dorothy Circus Trilogy: Walk on the Wild Side (2013) Drago
References
- ^ a b c SWINDLE Magazine Interview with Miss Van
- ^ a b c d "Miss Van's First Museum Show Opens in Malaga - artnet News". artnet News. 2016-06-24. Retrieved 2017-03-20.
- ^ Waclawek, Anna (2008). From graffiti to the street art movement : negotiating art worlds, urban spaces, and visual culture, c. 1970-2008. http://spectrum.library.concordia.ca/976281/: Concordia University, Phd Thesis.
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- ^ a b c d e f Villarreal, Ignacio. [http://artdaily.com/index.asp?int_sec=11&int_new=88302#.WM9Pim8rKpp "Miss Van's first show at a museum on view at the Centro de Arte Contempor�neo of M�laga"]. artdaily.com. Retrieved 2017-03-20.
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at position 74 (help) - ^ The Dolls of Miss Van. Fornarina Fashion News @ CourtureCandy.com
- ^ Glaser, Katja (2015). "The 'Place to Be'for Street Art Nowadays is no Longer the Street, its the Internet" (PDF). Street Art and Urban Creativity Scientific Journal. 1(2).
- ^ dark slanted eyes
- ^ Miss Van gallery
- ^ a b c d e f g Premont, Chantal (2013-04-28). "Miss Van and the Evolution of the Feminine from Brick onto Canvas". CUJAH. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
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(help) - ^ DeVito, Lee. "Murals in the Market artists address Shepard Fairey, Detroit, and more in inaugural fest". Detroit Metro Times. Retrieved 2017-03-20.
- ^ Harrington, Jaime Rojo & Steven (2016-09-28). "A Moscow Street Art Biennale: Artmossphere 2016". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
- ^ MissVan.com
- ^ a b Porteous, Freyia Lilian. "Weekly Style Muse: Miss Van's Painted Ladies, Body Pos Pinups With Attitude". Retrieved 2017-04-04.
External links
- Official Miss Van site
- Miss Van's Blog
- Galerie Magda Danysz : Miss Van's main gallery
- Iguapop Gallery
- Miss Van Gallery
- Juxtapoz Magazine Interview
- Lamono Interview
- Miss Van - Adri's World