Artists Walkthrough

Woman Made Gallery is excited to announce Age of the Bimbo, a group exhibition juried by melissa mursch-rodriguez. (she/her) (artist, curator, and founder of Moody Zine) This exhibition celebrates the bimbo — exploring hyper-femininity as a tool for empowerment and putting self-pleasure first.

Girlbosses are out, bimbos are in! But the new bimbo isn’t dumb; she’s empowered, utilizing beauty to get ahead by being underestimated and putting her pleasure first. There is careful thought behind bimbology, taking the male gaze that’s been unavoidable since birth and using it to create a caricature through the performance of vanity and cluelessness. The bimbo uses our culture’s idea of intelligence – rooted in patriarchal, racist, and ableist norms – and uses it to gain whatever she wants. A self-aware bimbo is everything men want visually whilst also being everything they hate: self-aware, sexually empowered, politically conscious, and beyond. Bimbos have unlocked these facts: both intelligence and attractiveness are flimsy constructs that are regularly wielded against femmes, people of color, and neurodivergent people. Reverse the fetishization of femininity and embrace your bimboism!

Juror melissa murch-rodriguez says, “As I faced the challenge of narrowing down all of the incredible work submitted to Age of the Bimbo, pink became an aesthetic guide for the show. From there, I wanted as many brands of bimbo represented as possible. What does it look like to be a non-binary bimbo? A country bimbo? A Black, Brown, or Asian bimbo? Even a sea monster bimbo? These unique bimbos are accompanied by works celebrating sex, tits, and glits in direct contrast to works questioning how the male gaze and capitalism bleed into bimbology. Age of the Bimbo simultaneously celebrates the ability to critique and reclaim the bimbo archetype all while covered in glitter.”

Image Credit: Helena Baka, Eau d’Bathroom Escapism (No Boys Allowed!)(2021), Acrylic on unstretched canvas, 36 x 47 in.