In honor of International Women’s Day, a week-long online auction curated by Pussy Riot creator Nadya Tolokonnikova will be sending a portion of its proceeds to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. My Body, My Business, hosted by Sotheby’s, includes 32 works from a diverse group of women whose traditional and digital practices explore multifaceted issues within the scope of women’s rights. Tolokonnikova’s own eggplant emoji candle, “Fragile Masculinity Genesis” (2023), will go under the hammer.
Tolokonnikova told Hyperallergic that lighting the candle wick “gives birth” to a broader project that will develop over the course of the next few months.
“‘Fragile Masculinity’ reflects on the phallocentric basis of our society, and reveals a fragile nature of a toxic, patriarchal, hypermasculine ego that hurts women, animals, and the planet,” she explained. “I hope that with burning down this candle we’ll burn down the patriarchy, and we’re going to be able to build a new, beautiful, and equal utopian society once the patriarchy is melted down.”
Swedish artist Michele Pred’s titular 2015 neon work “My Body My Business” will head to the auction block along with Jenny Holzer’s “Survival: Go where people…” (1984) cast aluminum plaque, a Marina Abramović print of “The Current” (2013), and works from several other prominent artists. As the co-founder of web3 feminist and LGBTQ+ community Unicorn DAO, Tolokonnikova also selected a variety of NFT works for the auction including Jen Stark’s psychedelic animation “Cosmic Bloom” (2023), Nancy Baker Cahill’s explosive 3D render “Terrortory” (2022), and Vanessa Beecroft’s “Performance Period” (2023).
The donation proceeds from the sale are on a sliding scale, from 20% to 100%. “Every artist was encouraged to make her own choice based on what they’re financially comfortable to contribute,” Tolokonnikova said. “Not every artist participating in this sale is stable financially, so while having conversations with emerging artists I was advising them to keep a portion to themselves to fund their own art practice further.” She added that a majority of the participants chose to donate 100%.
My Body My Business bidding began today, March 7, and will close March 14 at 2pm (EST).
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