Webster Feminist Club Magazine

Webster Feminist Club Magazine

By Lorelei McCampbell

Introduction 

Lorelei McCampbell 

After spending three terms at Webster, I noticed the lack of community and organization surrounding gender advocacy—a topic which is often found naturally in university spaces. In creating Webster Feminist Club, my goal was to create room for discussion on campus surrounding the broad topic of feminism, in a space which welcomes everyone. Regardless of previous knowledge or thoughts on the subject, whether you are a passionate advocate or you have never heard of feminism before, the club is for you. 

The Webster Feminist Club magazine is a collection of art made by students and of art admired by students. Whether it be poetry, photography, drawings, or excerpts from books, students were asked to respond to the general theme of intersectional feminism.  

The theme is broad and purposefully so—Webster is a community of diverse identities, and this journal provides space for students to touch on any aspect of their identity they wish. 

 

Key Terms & Definitions 

So we’re all on the same page going forward, here are some terms and definitions which are important to know.  

Feminism: the belief in social, economic, and political equality of the sexes.1 

       “Feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression.” 

Misogyny: dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against women. 

Patriarchy: a system of relationships, beliefs, and values embedded in political, social, and economic systems that structure gender inequality between men and women.4 

Intersectionality: the complex, cumulative way in which the effects of multiple forms of discrimination (such as racism, sexism, and classism) combine, overlap, or intersect especially in the experiences of marginalized individuals or groups.

Anonymous 

“My postpartum was the hardest thing I had to go through in my life. The people I loved the most were my enemies, and their support was their words of judgment towards me as a mother. I was disgusted at myself because I was disgusted at my baby.” 

The House

Lorelei McCampbell

The House: three girls, Mom and Dad. A house of femininity, dolls, basement dress-up. A house of dancing in the kitchen and singing too loud—cookies bake in the oven. A house of encouragement to daydream. Daydream like a romantic:

Open fields of wildflowers and summer evenings by the lake. Soft songs sung by a crackling fire, guitar soothes the room to sleep. The world is limitless and beautiful and warm in the House.

But the world grows fast and your mind does too. Because suddenly that girl in your seventh grade class gets prettier every day. And when you layed in bed with your best-friend freshman year, well, you’ve never felt that way before. And your chemistry lab partner makes you laugh so embarrassingly hard and you like it so much it’s bad.

The House asks:

how’d you all end up like this?

Heads get shaved, ears, noses, eyebrows, lips get pierced. You bring someone home to meet Mom and Dad but it’s not who they were expecting.

But it’s so good, god, it’s so good. We all get it.

We share our femininity as we share our rejection of it as we share our acceptance, our empowerment of it. We challenge the world and we try to be strong, but we know we cry so easily, far too easily (it must be genetic). Because I don’t know how we all ended up like this.

So different, each our own to the extreme. Yet so similar, the instructions on ‘how to live’ have been ingrained into us in the same way. To struggle and to blame the House to blame our lives. And to celebrate and to love the House and to love our lives.

How’d we all end up like this?

 

Journal Entries 

Anonymous 

 

Embrace and Empower 

Ashli Sartorelli   

This series captures the raw, unfiltered essence of femininity through close-ups of skin and form. Each photograph is a testament to the power of physical expression and the intimate embrace of one’s own body. These images challenge the traditional perceptions of femininity, celebrating the beauty, strength, and complexity inherent in the female form. Focusing on tight skin grabs and the natural curves of the body, the collection confronts societal norms and advocates for a feminist perspective that honors autonomy, consent, and personal identity. 

 

In capturing these moments, I hope to provide a canvas for viewers to project their interpretations and see a reflection of their inner selves within these frames. The session was a celebration of body positivity, marked by an atmosphere of self-acceptance and love. Through these images, I share a part of my identity and express a belief that everyone should embrace and love themselves for who they are and how they appear. It is my desire that this series not only resonates on a visual or aesthetic level but also inspires a personal journey of empowerment and self-discovery. 

was i raped quiz 

Anonymous 

Those quizzes I used to frequent on the internet: 

am i gay quiz 

anxiety quiz 

am i depressed quiz 

am i some-feeling-or-symptom-i’m-experiencing quiz 

 

If the results said what I wanted, then they were right. 

If the results said the very answer I was dreading, then they were very wrong. 

I wasn’t going to let a quiz (no matter how many said so) tell me I liked women.  

 

And years later I found myself in a similar position. 

Up later than I was supposed to be 

And typing questions into the search bar, scared for someone to find me. 

No one can know what words I’m typing, no one can know what links I’m clicking. 

And no one can know what answers I am filling into these inaccurate, stupid, fucking, quizzes. 

 

But perhaps the differences of the situation mean more: 

 

In front of my laptop rather than a hand-me-down ipod touch  

In a dorm room, not my childhood bed. 

 

And the series of letters, which made three distinct words in the search bar.  

The last word of utmost importance. 

One far different from what I used to search: 

 

Was       I       raped    ? 

 

And I clicked on the links. And I read the articles and did the stupid, fucking, quizzes.  

But they kept telling me incorrect information.  

They kept showing the very answer I dreaded. They therefore,  

were wrong. 

  

What is consent? they said 

That sounds like sexual assault, they said.  

Click here for more support, they said.  

Want to talk to someone? they said. 

 

But I wasn’t raped. 

Because the thing with rape, is that you’d know if it happened to you, because it’s 

Rape. 

If I was raped I would know.  

If I was raped I would know. 

 

It actually was everything but rape. 

It was a bad mistake, an unfortunate accident, some trauma I’ll deal with later. 

It was my fault, I slipped up, he did nothing wrong,  

It was just one night gone awry. 

 

But the thing online quizzes didn’t tell me when I was thirteen 

And didn’t tell me when I was eighteen 

Though I guess knew the entire time 

Was that they can’t tell you shit. 

 

And if you’re searching the question ‘was i raped’ 

Into the search bar, nine-out-of-ten-times 

you’ve answered it for yourself. 

 

Searching for internal validation through online quizzes 

Validation that can never be met 

Searching the internet because if it can tell me I was gay  

It can tell me I was raped.  

Title: Summer Bradford

Photography by Metin Volkan

Admired Artists’ Work 

 

Still I Rise 

Maya Angelou 

 

You may write me down in history 

With your bitter, twisted lies, 

You may trod me in the very dirt 

But still, like dust, I’ll rise. 

Does my sassiness upset you? 

Why are you beset with gloom? 

’Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells 

Pumping in my living room. 

Just like moons and like suns, 

With the certainty of tides, 

Just like hopes springing high, 

Still I’ll rise. 

Did you want to see me broken? 

Bowed head and lowered eyes? 

Shoulders falling down like teardrops, 

Weakened by my soulful cries? 

Does my haughtiness offend you? 

Don’t you take it awful hard 

’Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines 

Diggin’ in my own backyard. 

You may shoot me with your words, 

You may cut me with your eyes, 

You may kill me with your hatefulness, 

But still, like air, I’ll rise. 

Does my sexiness upset you? 

Does it come as a surprise 

That I dance like I’ve got diamonds 

At the meeting of my thighs? 

 

Out of the huts of history’s shame 

I rise 

Up from a past that’s rooted in pain 

I rise 

I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide, 

Welling and swelling I bear in the tide. 

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear 

I rise 

Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear 

I rise 

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, 

I am the dream and the hope of the slave. 

I rise 

I rise 

I rise. 

Artworks created by Angel Gutierrez 

The Right to Sex

‘Talking to My Students About Porn’ 

Amia Srinivasan 

 

Peggy Orenstein’s Girls & Sex: Navigating the Complicated New Landscape (2016), her bestseller about the sexual reality of young people in the twenty-first century, opens with a description of a welcome back’ school assembly at a large high school in California. 

After reminders about attendance and warnings against alcohol and drugs, the dean addressed his female students directly: Ladies, when you go out you need to dress to respect yourself and respect your family… This isn’t the place for your short shorts or your tank tops or your crop tops. You need to ask yourself: if your grandmother looks at you, will she be happy with what you’re wearing?’ The dean then moved on to a discussion of sexual harassment. One of the seniors, a young Latina woman, jumped up and took the mic. “I think what you just said is not okay and is extremely sexist and promoting “rape culture”, she said. ‘If I want to wear a tank top and shorts because it’s hot, I should be able to do that and that has no correlation to how much “respect” I hold for myself. What you’re saying is just continuing this cycle of blaming the victim’ The rest of the students cheered.  

I finished high school in 2003. At the time, girls wore their jeans slung low, pocketless and tight on the ass; shirts and sweaters were cropped to reveal pierced belly buttons and (if you were lucky) jutting hip bones. At a faculty board meeting – I was the student representative – the teachers discussed their alarm at how the girls were dressing. I don’t see how the boys are supposed to learn the quadratic equation, my maths teacher complained, ‘if they’re staring at a girl’s thong? I remember hearing him say the word thong made me feel sick. Were the boys really distracted – they seemed fine – or was my teacher projecting? I was furious, but at the time didn’t have the conceptual resources – slut shaming, victim blaming, rape culture – to say anything articulate. I think I may have managed something about how schools should be a safe place for students to explore their self-presentation, that it was the boys’ responsibility to learn how to do quadratic equations, that no one told the attractive boys to put bags over their heads lest the girls be distracted. But maybe I just thought these things. After the meeting faculty members took it as their right to tell girls to pull down their shirts and pull up their jeans. 

The young women Orenstein discusses in Girls & Sex would have known, unlike my younger self, exactly what to say. They would not have been ashamed, as I and all my friends were, to call themselves feminists. How should we understand the relation between this raised state of feminist consciousness among young women, and what appear to be their worsening sexual conditions: increased objectifica-tion, intensified body expectations, decreasing pleasure, and shrinking options for sex on their terms? Perhaps girls and young women are becoming more feminist because their worsening circumstances demand it. Or perhaps, as Orenstein suggests, feminist consciousness is for many young women a mode of false consciousness, which plays into the hands of the very system of sexual subordination they take themselves to be opposing. Does a discourse of sexual empowerment and autonomy mask something darker and unfree? The feminist philosopher Nancy Bauer writes about asking her women students why they spend ‘their weekend evenings giving unreciprocated blow jobs to drunken frat boys’. They tell me they enjoy the sense of power it gives them,’ she writes. You doll yourself up and get some guy helplessly aroused, at which point you could just walk away. But you don’t.’  

 

Malak Mattar  

Mattar is a Palestinian artist from Gaza. She began exploring art during the 2014 Gaza War as a way to express trauma and emotions. 

Acknowledgements 

Thank you to all students who submitted work, making the first edition of Webster Feminist Club’s art magazine possible! 

Resources

Amia Srinivasan. The Right to Sex. Bloomsbury, 2021.
Malak Mattar.
Maya Angelou. “Still I Rise.” Poetry Foundation, 1978.
My Secret Geneva – Swiss Bliss: A Sweet Review

My Secret Geneva – Swiss Bliss: A Sweet Review

Introduction

Nestled within the pages of Diccon Bewes’s Swisswatching lies a captivating chapter that unravels the mysterious origins of Swiss chocolate, inviting readers on an intriguing exploration of this highly wanted delicacy. In the 19th century, the introduction of milk chocolate by Daniel Peter in 1875 and the subsequent collaboration with Henri Nestlé allowed Swiss chocolate to gain widespread popularity, revolutionizing the industry and solidifying Switzerland’s reputation as a chocolate powerhouse. Delving beyond the borders of Switzerland, this chapter embarks on a sensory quest to trace the journey of chocolate from its humble beginnings to the luxurious Swiss confections that grace global palates. At the bottom of this exploration within our group lies a thought-provoking thesis: the price of Swiss chocolate may not always serve as a reliable indicator of its quality. This chapter is a celebration of heritage, craftsmanship, and the intertwining narratives that have shaped the world of Swiss chocolate. Upon reading this chapter, our team was inspired to conduct an experiment on whether the price of branded Swiss chocolate is worth paying for. The experiment includes visiting four chocolate stores in Geneva, tasting different chocolates, considering the prices, taste and quality to be able to compare which chocolate is really worth its price tag.

The first location we tried was Martel Chocolatier at Rue de Cornavin 16 1201, Geneva. The store was easy to access as it is very close to Manor and visibly sticks out thanks to its clear window displays. Our overall experience was somewhat negative as the employees seemed to be dismissive of customers. They didn’t ask us if we needed any help or recommendations and quickly prioritized the french speaking customers. It appears the employees were rushed and didn’t aim to offer any special experience. The seating area was pretty full and loud making the atmosphere stuffy and a bit chaotic which wasn’t helped by the absence of music playing to drown out any noise. Comfort wise the tables were small and the chairs were of a plastic quality which didn’t make us want to stay very long. In terms of design, the look of the store is minimalistic with a gray and gold tone theme as well as large windows bringing in natural light to the store.

As for the chocolate, the taste is slightly above average. In our subjective opinion the chocolate tasted very artificially sweet with a strong aftertaste. The texture was hard at the first bite but became sandy as we chewed. For 11 francs the quality could have been better. There were no pre packaged bars as they offer asymmetrical cut pieces that are then weighed to determine the price. To put it into perspective, for the same price we could have bought approximately four more Lindt bars (2,50 francs). Packaging wise, no bag was offered aside from a thin plastic bag closed by a sticker.

Overall Ratings

Customer service: 4/10

Atmosphere: 5/10

Comfort: 4/10

Design: 6/10

Taste: 6/10

Texture: 6/10 (sandy)

Quality based on price: 5/10

Packaging: 2/10

The second store that we visited was Guillaume Bichet, located in Rue du Rhone 17, 1204 Geneve. It was not easily located as it is overshadowed by the construction taking place just in front. We were welcomed warmly the second we entered the store by the employees. We started looking at the chocolates that were arranged nicely. After a few moments, the lady kindly offered us to taste one of their most popular products, the “Almond Princesses” which are chocolate covered almonds. After which, we purchased the chocolate. We then asked them if we could take pictures from their store and interview them, which they gladly agreed to, since they were so easy going and polite to the customers. Their nice and warm behavior made us feel free and comfortable to come up with our questions and inquiries about their store and job. The atmosphere of the store was quite pleasing as it was located near the lake and the limited number of seats led to a quiet and intimate atmosphere. Classical music could be heard which added to this ambience of leisure. Comfort wise, the chairs are plush, covered in a velvet material, making the store look luxurious. The view from the window of the lake only enhances this comfort, encouraging customers to stay longer. The design of the store is sleek with brown and white themed displays accompanied by many glass displays of their products.

In terms of taste, the chocolate was not overpoweringly sweet however the flavor was a bit muted. The texture was creamy and easy to chew. In our opinion, the chocolate was appropriately priced at 11 francs seeing as the store seems to be more catered to higher class customers. In terms of packaging, they kept it quite simple with a smooth white paper box with a plastic cutout showing the chocolate.

Overall Ratings

Customer service: 10/10

Atmosphere: 8/10

Comfort: 6/10

Design: 8/10

Taste: 7/10

Texture: 8/10 (creamy)

Quality based on price: 7/10

Packaging: 8/10

Guillaume Bichet: Employee Interview

As the Guillaume Bichet employees were the most welcoming and patient ones, we decided to interview them and inquire about their products. We asked about their most sold chocolate, which was the “Almond Princesses”. We asked one of the staff members to see if they have any personal favorite chocolate and it turned out it was not really a popular chocolate within the store, named “Corsica” which is a praline chocolate. Regarding the origins of the chocolates, we found out their chocolates are produced in a factory in Versoix by specialists and are then delivered to the store. In terms of what differentiates their store from others they emphasized on the elegance they offer in their design with muted color schemes and an elevated customer experience.

The third location, Läderäch was not easy to find because it was hidden among the buildings, at Rue du Mont-blanc 30, 1201 Geneva. When we entered the Läderäch chocolate shop, we were amazed with the design, as it was very captivating, yet reserved, giving it a wealthy atmosphere while keeping it interesting for the customer. There were chocolate sculptures, colorful chunks of chocolate bars and designed stands of a chocolate candy variety. It is a good place if you want to make a gift to someone and choose something sweet yet creative. For example, their petite boxes of chocolate popcorn with different flavors, or their gift boxes of minimalistic chocolate candies. There were no places where we could sit and drink coffee or rest, the shop was crowded, and the employees looked busy. We had to make a choice quickly and leave because the atmosphere wasn’t too comforting. When we tried to interview a staff member that wasn’t occupied with customers, she seemed to be not eager at all to answer any of our questions or interact. We had to stop our attempts because she looked clearly annoyed with our presence and we didn’t feel welcomed. As for the taste of the chocolate, it was moderately sweet with a clear taste of milk. The texture was crunchy at first and then creamy. The price was surprisingly lower than we thought, at 6 francs per bar, half as expensive as similar stores such as Martel, which added to the value.

 

Overall Ratings

Customer service: 3/10

Atmosphere: 5/10

Comfort: 2/10

Design:7/10

Taste: 8/10

Texture: 8/10 (crunchy then creamy)

Quality based on price: 9/10

Packaging: 10/10

The last location we visited was Lindt at Rue de la Tour-de-L’île 1, 1204 Geneva. The store was easy to find, since it had a big colorful label and was not hidden by any shops or buildings. When we entered the shop, it seemed like a little museum because everything was very bright, colorful and designed in a way that attracted the most attention. There were big stands with rainbow coloured candy wrapped chocolates, brand themed toys, easter bunnies covered in gold wrapping, chocolate hearts and huge sculptures made of chocolate which was all very captivating. The store seemed to be great as a tourist attraction. Furthermore, it had a lot of choices: from raspberry flavored chocolates to coconut and dark chocolate flavors, valentine themed chocolates for couples, basic designs for average tourists and even funny little animal figurines for kids visitors. However, there was no place to sit, so we were expected to just buy chocolates and leave, which we were eager to do as there were quite a lot of people. As we were buying the chocolate, the staff members seemed friendly and polite. And as we left the store, buying a milk chocolate bar for a relatively low price, we were given 6 candies to try for free as a gift, which was very nice from the employee’s side.

As for the chocolate itself, it tasted quite good for the price of 2.50 which we paid. It was very sweet and milky, melting in the mouth, with some creamy aftertaste. However, it felt a little sticky and not as smooth when we chewed the chocolate.

Overall Ratings

Customer service: 8/10

Atmosphere: 7/10

Comfort: 2/10

Design: 9/10

Taste: 7/10

Texture: 6/10 (creamy but sticks on teeth)

Quality based on price: 8/10

Packaging: 2/10

Coop

When we tried the coop’s vegan (oatmilk) chocolate bar, we were first excited to find out what this rather exotic chocolate is. But shortly after, we were hit with an atrocious taste that reminded us of grass mixed with sugar that also left a bad aftertaste and it felt ‘sticky’ in the mouth. The packaging was colorful and rather attractive, but the taste was very disappointing. The price was very cheap, similar to Lindt’s price but in terms of quality Lindt is marginally better.

Afterwards, we tried a regular milk chocolate bar from Coop for a relatively low price to cover the traumatic experience from the previous bar but it was almost just as bad, because it tasted too sugary with a hint of spoiled milk. The packaging was generic.

Overall Ratings

Vegan version: Taste: 0/10; Texture: 2/10; Quality based on price: 3/10; Packaging: 3/10

Regular: Taste: 3/10; Texture: 3/10; Quality based on price: 4/10; Packaging: 1/10

Conclusion

To sum up, our favorite store was Guillaume Bichet and our least favorite was Martel. However, in terms of chocolate we had different favorites. We found the Läderch chocolate the best tasting, while Coop had the worst tasting ones. Through this review we proved our thesis that price is not really the best indicator for the quality of products. To further test our thesis, we will conduct a blind taste testing of the chocolates we tried in class for our presentation.

Meet The Artist – Filippo Fior

Meet The Artist – Filippo Fior

Career Talk With Fashion Photographer Filippo Fior

During this Career Talk, organized in collaboration with Career Services and the Media Communications Department of Webster University, we speak with the talented fashion photographer Filippo Fior, who told us about his fast-paced professional life, which he spends shooting fashion shows, lookbooks, and catalogs for the top designer brands today. For a glimpse of his work, please visit https://www.instagram.com/filippofior/ and https://www.filippofior.com/.

Filippo Fior

by Julianna Sandholm-Bark

Art Gallery Review

Art Gallery Review

Art Gallery Review

By …

Introduction:

The contemporary art scene is an exciting and dynamic space that is constantly pushing the boundaries of traditional art forms. To experience some of the most thought-provoking and innovative contemporary art being produced today, we have chosen to visit five different galleries – Artion, Nebulus, MENO, Bailly, and Gowen. Each of these galleries showcases modern and cutting-edge art from emerging and established artists. As a bonus, these galleries offer free admission to students, making it an accessible and enjoyable leisure activity for art enthusiasts and novices alike.

Some of the different criteria that we used to judge each gallery was: We considered the objective of each exhibition (the Theme), number of works, space of the environment, location, and the people we believe it attracts which also related to over personal conclusion of each gallery

Artion Gallery

Objective: “Our passion for the living history of art, as well as our desire to protect the memory and quality of the Old Masters, in alignment with contemporary trends, result in a dynamic synthesis of the artists we represent; the synergies of their work create orientations, shape opinions and one could argue contribute to the general evolution of the art world, transforming the Commercial Spectrum into Art Historical Context.”

People it would attract: Although the gallery is open to everyone, from what is presented, we assumed that people who have at least a basic understanding of art or an affinity for classical art would enjoy the exhibition more as they can draw links to the original artwork being transformed.

Number of works: 30

Space: The area itself was quite dark itself with two distinguishable floors that required some exploring inorder to fully immerse into the exhibition.

Location: 34 Grand-Rue 204, Geneva

Conclusion: This was one of the first galleries we saw, and we were thoroughly impressed. The art itself was quite immersive because it subverted the ‘great’ art we’ve grown up adorning. The birth of Venus was turned into a mosaic and the painting of the last supper was remodeled in a 3D way to depict two different scenes based on where you saw it. It’s a gallery worth seeing with a dark and moody interior.

Nebulous Pace Gallery

Objective of the installation: “Rooted in the art historical language of abstraction, Villareal’s practice uses pixels and binary code to create complex, rhythmic compositions. Investigating the capacity of light and code as both medium and subject, Villareal’s practice is concerned with the immersive, experiential, and sensorial qualities of perception.

Villareal’s latest body of work, titled Nebulae, brings this language of brightly coloured LED lights, electronics, and custom coding into the gallery space. These new wall-based sculptures are composed of hypnotic, diffused light that pulsates in vibrant hues of radiant colors. Drawing simultaneously on organic, celestial imagery and the visual lexicon of custom software, Villareal’s work bridges the divide, inviting viewers to engage with the boundary that separates the physical and digital worlds.”

People it would attract: Due to its subliminal atmosphere and the eye-catching twinkling of the light, we stated that this atmosphere would be perfect for people who want to fully immerse themselves into a body of work for a short time. Whether that be kids, students, or lawyers, there is something here that grips at everyone’s attention.

Number of works: 8

Space: The space of the gallery itself was very spacious, thus it was on theme with the exhibition as well. The open area allows the audience to fully immerse themselves in the work. Very ethereal and light.

Location: Quai des Bergues 15-17, Geneva

Conclusion: This exhibition, (in my opinion), was the second best of the galleries we explored. It was very spacious and light because the space was open for the viewer to explore it in whichever way they pleased. With 8 major works, each with its own theme and color palette, the art gallery really transported the viewer into another world. I personally recommend this to anyone wishing to try something new in Geneva – whilst it’s still here.

Gowen Art Gallery

Objective of the installation: “Gowen presents REVIVAL I – XVIIIe siècle, the first exhibition in a series which unites over twenty international contemporary artists whose visual language engages with, reimagines, and transforms imagery from the art historical canon. Co-curated by Laura Gowen and New York-based advisor Rachel Cole, the show explores various stylistic and methodological interventions in relation to eighteenth-century aesthetic traditions. Elegant portraiture, conversation pieces, landscapes and the defining mores, trends and events of the era are revisited via ever-changing modes of representation. REVIVAL I – XVIIIe siècle aspires to capture the eighteenth-century zeitgeist, connecting the past to contemporary work as a

mechanism for understanding and informing about the complexities of the present, whilst laying the groundwork for the future.”

People it would attract: The installation that was shown during the time that we visited was also playing with our modern understanding of the Renaissance, just like the Artion Gallery. It was very modern and polished. We believe that people who have an interest in modern art, and who can afford to pay big money for it, would be the ideal audience. Students who enjoy small luxuries would also really enjoy this. This exhibition was done with a younger audience in mind, since the artists themselves were using social media to elevate their works of art and build a community.

Number of works: 27
Location: Grand-Rue 23, 1204 Genève

Space: With many twists and turns all about the gallery, I liked the ‘personal’ journey that the viewer got to embark on. The works were perfected spaced out and the interior allocated enough time and space for the viewer to come to their own conclusions before jumping to the next work.

Conclusion: the interior of the gallery was quite minimalistic with a lot of corners and turns. It encouraged the viewer to take matters into their own hands and seek something that stands out to them. All the works were very thought provoking and the art curator was extremely talented and proficient in his work which helped better understand the purpose of the exhibition.

Interview

How often do you change the artworks in the gallery?

It depends on the exhibition, but we usually change them every four to five months. For example, this exhibition is going to last until the end of April, so we are going to change the paintings when the exhibition ends.

What kinds of artists take part in the exhibitions that are held at your gallery?

There are many artists that mainly create contemporary art and most of them are young, about 30-50 years old. WIth this specific collection we integrated the use of social media as most of the artists featured have used their platforms to elevate their status and their works. The reception of the works has been very positive.

How does your gallery have so many clients and visitors that want to see the exhibitions and maybe buy some pieces?
That is also related to the second question because I think one of the main reasons our gallery is so famous is social media. Our artists are mostly young and they share their art with the world through social media which connects them to young clients who come and visit our gallery daily.

Bailly’s Art Gallery

Objective of the installation: “There is an infinite number of subjects, techniques, artistic visions and creative processes that lead to the creation of a work of art. Yet, there are times when compositions that appear to be fundamentally different from one another hold common characteristics: the presence of lines and shades of color. The exhibition Lines and Colors: An artistic path provides a grouping of works that exposes the multitude of unique creative paths resulting from the use of lines and colors”

People it would attract: From all the galleries we visited, this felt the most ‘archaic’ because we didn’t find it soul grabbing or eye catching. From this agreement, we believe that people over the age of 35 may be more prone to enjoy the finer details that we happened to overlook.

M.E.N.O Art Gallery


Objective of the installation: “With a different tangible delineation from the previous galleries, M.E.N.O focuses on creating an atmosphere of fun and spontaneity where the abstract linear works are displayed in an attempt to attract the viewer’s raw reactions.”

People it would attract: This installation showcased a very ‘typical’ abstract gallery atmosphere, where linear lines are composed in a delicate way to elicit a reaction from the viewer. The location of the museum makes it easy for students to hop from one gallery to another. Although we would encourage people who find modern art ‘boring’ to give this one a try, if they’re willing to go with an open mind.

Number of works: 27
Location: Grand-Rue 33, 1204 Genève

Space: the work is comparable to the Gowen with a higher frequency of works per wall/ room. The clean aesthetic of all the white walls carried on in the showroom which helped transmit the true colors and emotions of each artwork.

Conclusion: By the end of the tour I believe that the viewers had formulated their own perspective on what the works were supposed to emoting. I believe the end purpose of the gallery is to trigger a more introspective reflection of what it means to be in such an abstract setting, thus it was quite worth the view.

However, this is an experience that we’d encourage all students and others to try because it offered a lot of different perspectives on a large selection of artworks.

Number of works: 20+

Space: Moderate spacing in the gallery with enough spacing and enough area but they could have done a bit more with the deco and the immersion of the theme with their artwork.

Location: Rue de l’Hôtel-de-Ville 10, 1204 Genève

Conclusion: The artworks displayed follow inline with the contemporary theme we’ve seen thus far with a post- modern twist. What really caught our attention was the fact that there were a lot of sculptures integrated into the exhibition. The works were all quite different from each other but I think it helped break the monotony of the 4 previous galleries. Although there is a lot to explore, the previous galleries piqued our interest, however we’d love for the students to see and decide for themselves!