Bollywood Maternity Woes

When a woman is in the celebrity spotlight, we naturally tend to idealize her into an icon of beauty and youth. And when the star does something crazy like age or get pregnant, we’re forced to remember that they are human. Well, at least some of them are. Victoria Beckham obviously doesn’t count.

Before I continue, let me say that I am NOT anti-feminist; however, this post will probably make you think otherwise.

As Hollywood generations turn over, pregnancy becomes common among the stars we so lovingly watch. Since we’re (the public is) interested in seeing how celebrities evolve through motherhood, the media turns its attention accordingly to give us what we want. Some would argue that this exposure gets way out of hand – from tracking hospital stays to the sale of celeb baby’s first photo shoot – and denigrates the inherent beauty of motherhood itself.

The most recent buzz is on Bollywood’s own beauty queen, Aishwarya Rai. Known for being Miss World and subsequently the crown jewel of India, she’s been scrutinized by Indian media for the baby weight she has yet to lose in 7 months after giving birth. There is a belief circling the globe that it is her responsibility to get back to the shape she was before the baby and continue her reign as the ideal Indian woman. In case you haven’t seen any pictures, here’s the before and after:

On the one hand, I’m appalled by the fact that celebrities in the spotlight are expected to bounce back into shape after every single pregnancy. But on the other hand, I have to admit that I feel like… isn’t this what she signed up for? People don’t tend to become beauty icons overnight; not only does it take hard work, but it requires a willingness and acceptance of the cost that fame comes with. Even though she could use some leniency from the public eye, she also can’t expect not to be judged by her appearance if it’s the very thing that made her career in the first place.

So while I’m all for a woman’s right to do what she wants with her body free from judgment… I also want to see a new Bollywood routine with my girl Aishwarya front and center stat! Can you blame me?

Paradisio

Bill Lowe Gallery presents “Paradisio” featuring new works by Jimmy O’Neal, Kimber Berry, Tom Brydelsky, and Bassmi Ibrahim. If you’re in Atlanta, please join us for the opening reception one week from now – Friday, May 4th from 6-9 pm! For more information, visit our website.

More about PARADISIO:

We live in a time where life is lived in multiple and simultaneous dimensions. Consciousness is constantly traveling back and forth between the real and the virtual. As a result, our sensory appetite has become insatiable and no singular experience feels complete or gratifying for more than a millisecond. The work in this show demonstrates a possible solution to this manufactured ennui. Illustrated here are pathways for us to navigate our own visions of paradise; time stands still, speeds up and becomes liquid form all at the same time. Paradisio explores the visual and psychological landscape of the multi-dimensional experience, enveloping us in our own yearning for heightened self-awareness.

 

About Jimmy O’Neal:

Southern artist Jimmy O’Neal invigorates archetypal icons of myth and legend with new meaning through his utilization of scientifically-augmented traditional materials, such as his own unique colorless paint that brilliantly reflects light as a mirror. His opulent showmanship pushes the envelope of pictorial expectation and charters the definition of new beauty in our image-bombarded world. The result is an articulated vision that embraces the breadth and depth of our collective cultural mythologies, independent of traditional time-space parameters.

 

About Kimber Berry:

American abstractionist Kimber Berry has captured the attention of the global art community over the past decade with her explosively colorful, visually dense, multi-dimensional canvases and installations. Her masterful integration of the digital with pure paint creates a symphonic dance between the virtual world and the organic universe. This universe is an ultra-world that exists within and without the time-space continuum.

 

About Tom Brydelsky:

Tom Brydelsky’s mixed-media encaustic paintings are an investigation into the ephemeral nature of perception, memory and the living environment. After manipulating digital photographs, he then encases them in cloudy layers of wax which act as a metaphorical time capsule. In this process, Brydelsky reclaims and preserves the reverent nostalgia that mankind has for the natural world.

 

About Bassmi Ibrahim:

Bassmi Ibrahim’s work is unique in its ability to produce emotional, ethereal, and hypnotic responses in its viewers. None of his paintings insist on literal narrative; instead they speak in a language we intuitively recognize through atmospheric vibration. Whatever is recalled, it is the play of presence and absence that asserts itself as the fundamental rhythm of life.