Simona Bubánová (*1961)
Peep Show, 1989
object, 135.5 x 135.5 cm
acquired by purchasing from the author in 1992
The author emerged with the generation of neo-expressionists in the second half of the eighties. The core of her work, however, comprises small-format images from the first half of the nineties, in which she utilizes kitsch as a counterpoint to the “high” art, drawing attention to the emptiness of advertising in terms of content and strategy by appropriating or misusing its visual language. Bubánová started to deal with gender issues already in the early nineties and this approach translates mainly in her criticism of schematic depiction of women in lifestyle magazines and advertising by intentional paraphrasing or quotations of these forms.
In terms of form and content, the object Peep Show oscillates between two phases of Bubánová’s work. The subject matter of mythical animals (resembling bulls) stems from neo-expressionist painting. From today’s perspective, the allusion to voyeurism (peephole) can be seen as a precursor to aggressive invasion of sexism and pornography into mass culture, while the hanging form of the object evokes the upcoming dominance of intermedia art forms.
