Laura Elkins: The First Ladies & Me

Fri 1 May, 12 pm. 600 I Street, N.W., Washington, 20001. Michelle Weiner, Community Outreach, 202/408-3100. Sixth & I Historic Synagogue - [email][events]

Exhibit on view: March 26 – May 1, 2009 Laura Elkins examines notions of power, femininity, sexuality, and aging in the traditional genre of portraiture, using the iconic images of American First Ladies to inform her series of witty self-portraits. The series began after the artist viewed official portraits in The White House; over time, she increasingly integrated personal, political, and catastrophic events into the images, such as her self-portraits made after the Hurricane Katrina disaster, where she appears as First Ladies Mamie Eisenhower and Lady Bird Johnson submerged in flood waters. This exhibit is a continuation of Laura Elkins' work featured at the 2009 ACLU Bill of Rights Awards Luncheon, honoring Professor Nadine Strossen, who recently retir