P·P·O·W will present an installation of sculptures by Jessica Stoller, which will be our first solo exhibition with the artist. In Spoil, Stoller uses clay and the grotesque as a vehicle to explore the constructed, often idealized world of femininity, gathering imagery across cultural lines and histories, often fixating on the subjugation of the female body. Porcelain is her primary media, a historically weighted material that is inevitably linked to desire, mystery and consumption. The sculptures in Spoil spill out of decorative materiality into the Rococo maximalist mentality of pageantry, pomp and artifice that are often overlooked as frivolous ploys. Through the synthesis of the symbolic female, culturally, historically and bodily, Stoller allows feminist language to expand within her work leaving room for subversion, defiance and play.

The installation is comprised of sculptures ranging from tabletop scaled busts to elaborate multi-piece works.  In the center of the gallery Stoller presents a large still life that is reminiscent of French grand dining practices of the 18th century, when porcelain replaced sugar sculptures, becoming essential in creating lavish table decorations of allegorical and mythological themes.  Stoller’s tableau seduces the viewer into its bountiful tiers of carnal illusions where nipples become macaroons. The intricate assemblage pays homage to religious and historic iconographies (16th century Vanitas paintings, Marie Antoinette’s  breast cup) and contemporary semiotics of abject hands stuffed with lace and adorned with long curling embellished nails, oversized anime eye pendants and silver plated hybrid antlered skulls. Stoller’s work is grounded in dual appearances; mobilizing our vision of the grotesque in opposition of contemporary societal controls that still plague the feminine body.