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Beverley Knowles curates 'It's a Girl' by Sarah Maple at The Aubin Gallery

At a glance
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Time 09:00
Date 09/03/12
Price Free

Sarah Maple's artwork is unfailingly bold and brave, not for the coy or faint of heart

9th February-9th March These unflinching, occasionally even controversial, investigations into what it is to be a woman and a Muslim in 21st century Britain are made joyful by her own very personal brand of boisterous, tongue-in-cheek humour. This is not sensationalism for sensationalism's sake, but rather a heart felt urge by a twenty-seven-year old artist of great sincerity and talent, for the viewer to look again, and this time with a more questioning eye, at traditionally accepted notions of identity, gender, culture and religion.

Coming out of a long tradition of feminist art history the artist - referring to herself as Maple - follows in the ground breaking footsteps of artists such as Cindy Sherman, Barbara Kruger, VALIE EXPORT, Gillian Wearing, Pipilotti Rist and, perhaps more surprisingly, also speaks to the likes of Jeff Wall and Wilhelm Sasnal.

Maple often uses herself as protagonist, becoming a warts and all mirror to contemporary society and pop culture through the device of self-portraiture. Her new work includes a series of such photographic self-portraits, highlighting the insidious gender disparities inherent in classic children's tales. Roles are reversed: Cinderella wins a seat in Parliament, Sleeping Beauty scrubs up for open heart surgery, whilst Belle - seen shouting encouragement at the players from the bench - manages a football team. Maple has a lightness of touch that makes these messages not just palatable but fun; serious work with a comedic twist.