Cross-stitch on aida fabric
Diameter: 20 cm.
Signed and dated 'Maggie Williams 2015' (on the reverse)
Created in 2015
22. Maggie Williams
Phil Heath
ESTIMATE
£700 - 900
Shipping estimate
Notes
Maggie Williams is a British artist living and working in London. Since graduating in 2011, Maggie's work has been included in many group and solo shows across the U.K., gaining much critical acclaim in 2016 as a finalist in Zealous X and the winner of the ArtSlant Prize Showcase.
The re-description and transformation of an object or image is a theme that appears heavily throughout the artist's work. Whether the process is delicate or destructive, her artwork mirthfully reintroduces the matter at hand. In this body of work, the 'Muscle Men', Maggie challenges the perception of Mr and Mrs Olympia; the annual international bodybuilding competitions.
Fascinated with the extreme exhibition of masculinity, the artist creates a dialogue of antithesis and symbiosis in the portrayal of champions through the effeminate art of embroidery. The victors are emasculated as their final poses are transformed from a Herculean moment in the spotlight to a delicate cross-stitch, whilst the depiction of taut, bulging muscles brings about a new sensibility and contemporary twist to needlework.
With the aim of creating a dialogue between labour intensive bodybuilding and embroidery, some works, like Dorian Yates, have been left intentionally unfinished; stripping down the body and dispersing the muscle through pixilation.