FOR 6-15

‘SEX AND SPEED,’ ‘POP INTERVENTION’ AT MARY RYAN GALLERY JUNE 21

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NEW YORK CITY — “Gerald Laing: Sex and Speed, British Pop from the 1960s,” and “Corinne Dolle (aka Coco): Pop Intervention, New Paintings (The Village Voice Pinups vs The Victoria’s Secret Girls)” will be on view June 21–August 2 at Mary Ryan Gallery. An opening reception will be June 21, 6 to 8 pm.

The selection of works from the 1960s by British Pop artists Gerald Laing, “Sex and Speed,” combines a variety of American-influenced images — sky divers, bikini girls, drag racers — which for Laing represented the idealism and excess of the American dream.

This exhibition showcases Laing’s acute sense of color and line, his engagement with the popular culture of the 60s, and celebrates his major contribution as a pop artist.

Laing’s work is strong and vibrant. His bikini girls, from his portfolio “Baby Baby Wild Things,” are young women in bathing suits set against bold, monochromatic backgrounds. Playful and flirtatious, they possess a girl-next-door quality, while simultaneously representing an inaccessible ideal.

This sense of unattainable perfection translates to Laing’s dragsters, which explore the allure of what was then beautiful, new technology. The smooth fiberglass shell of a Formula One car references the skin of the “Baby Baby Wild Things,” whose striped bikinis resemble racing stripes.

Corrine Dolle (aka Coco) a native of Avignon, France, currently lives and works in New York City. Her work derives from the world she lives in as a woman; her French background imbues her with a sense of the seductive and her life in New York provides her with the constant stimulus of pop culture.

Drawing inspiration from a variety of sources — 1950s pin-ups to contemporary fashion and catalog advertisements — Coco transcribes the image of the commercialized female sex symbol into playful, provocative paintings. The two series featured in this exhibition, “The Village Voice Pinups” and “The Victoria’s Secret Girls,” both feature women advertising sex — either the act or the idea — however in the Village Voice sex is taboo, while in Victoria’s Secret catalogs it is glamorized. The Village Voice pinups are accessible, yet controversial, while the Victoria’s Secret girls are unattainable, but accepted.

Both bodies of work are mixed media. Each Village Voice pinup is done using a modeling paste-like putty and acrylic paint on a 6-by-6-inch canvas. The finished canvases have a texture similar to a public wall. The Victoria’s Secret girls are made by mounting foam core cut outs on canvas and covering them with a mixture of acrylic paint.

The gallery is at 527 West 26th Street. For information, www.maryryangallery.com or 212-397-0069.