Amy Elkins @ Yancey Richardson

Hard and fast assumptions of gender codes blur in the works of Amy Elkins at Yancy Richardson. Taken out of the context of floral backdrops, these men are very masculine. Manly men you might say. Elkins successfully subdues the male bravado, not by simply placing floral patterns behind the men, but by also gently allowing the men to show us a vulnerability not always associated with men or masculinity. At the same time, Elkins assumes the role traditionally asserted by male painters (in this case Mattisse comes to mind) as we gaze through her eyes at these men, though for very different ends.