The exhibition presents primarily new work by 16 contemporary artists responding to and pulling apart the imposed and oversimplified stereotypes affiliated with women/femmes. Staged in a gothic Translyvanian castle, conceived by curator Jasmine Wahi, the Vortic digital extension of VAMPIRE::MOTHER features additional artists, artworks and content. Artist Janet Werner will feature alongside artists from the physical counterpart of the show, including Daphne Arthur, María Berrío, Jessica Taylor Bellamy, Tammi Campbell, Bhasha Chakrabarti, Saskia Colwell, Chantal Joffe, Jane Margarette, Marilyn Minter, Katherina Olschbaur, Paula Rego, Laurie Simmons, Mickalene Thomas, Nadia Waheed, Shoshanna Weinberger.
As explained by the curator, Jasmine Wahi:
"VAMPIRE::MOTHER attempts to disrupt linear and binary structures and impositions by presenting the idea that multiple realities (and selves) can exist simultaneously … and asks artists to consider the reductive nature of these roles and subvert them. It invites them to consider how we use our 'wiles' as a means of subterfuge. The seductress can be a kitten, soft and cuddly; or she may be a vampire. It is a show that embraces the mainstream tendency to navigate the world through a rigid binary framework. But truly, it subverts this lens, and dismantles binary structures, mushing them into a gloop of indefinable and intersectional identities."
