GAME ART: EMMA STERN'S AVATARS OF THE MALE GAZE
Is there a male gaze in video games, and if so, what does the woman imagined, fetishized or vilified by men look like?
Emma Stern, a Brooklyn-based artist, has been trying to answer this question for several years through the medium of painting. He work transforms biases, stereotypes and archetypes into "traditional" artworks. By examining the male-dominated spheres of gaming - among other things - she creates portraits of non-existent women that nonetheless exert a significant influence on the perception of (and expectations about) the female body. Her paintings - whose themes and titles are often derived from video game slang and aesthetics - are imbued with a kind of soft-core pornography that one usually encounters on sites such as DeviantArt and message boards. Stern combines a commitment to traditional painting and drawing techniques with 3D software and digital tool. As she stated in an in-depth interview with De:Formal, in 2020
There are recurring female archetypes that appear all throughout history but are especially pronounced in the world of 3d fandom and pornography: the cheerleader, the cowgirl, the pin-up girl, the bimbo, the secretary, the girl next door… and then when you start involving all these niche internet/gamer subcultures, you get these fantasy elements and wind up with the slutty elf, sexy centaur, the warrior princess and so on. All these characters are recognisable even if you’ve never seen them before, so they have their own narratives in a way, because they are archetypal.
Emma Stern (b. 1992), lives and work in Brooklyn. She graduated in 2014 from Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY. Her work has been exhibited internationally. He recent solo shows include Booty!, Half Gallery, New York, NY (2022), Home Bodies, Carl Kostyál, Stockholm (2021), Boy, It Feels Good To Be A Cowgirl, Almine Rech, Paris (2021), Revenge Body, Carl Kostyál Gallery, London (2021) and Slow Fade, The Newsstand Project, Los Angeles (2020). Recent group shows include ‘Stockholm Sessions’, Carl Kostyál, Stockholm (2021); ‘Resting Point of Accommodation’, Almine Rech, Brussels (2021); ‘The Artist is Online’, Konig Gallery, Berlin (2021); ‘Friend Zone’, Half Gallery, New York (2021); ‘06’, PM/AM, London (2020); ‘Escapism’, Meredith Rosen Gallery, New York (2020) and ‘American Woman’, Allouche Benias Gallery, Athens, Greece (2020).
video: EMMA STERN AT THE NEWSSTAND PROJECT, LOS ANGELES
A film by Eric Minh Swenson (EMS, June 2020)