For her exhibition Smits
will build a contemporary alter pieceusing the first series of sculptures and drawings from her Goddesses-Doggesses
project. These works, exhibited for the first time in the Closet Box, are a
result of Smits’ search for modern day Madonnas. She takes inspiration from the
book “American Superwomen,” which is filled with photos of everyday American women
dressed as their favorite comic stars. For Smits, these women dressed up as superhereos emit a feminine
beauty, strength and power. Using collage and assemblage techniques, she is
creating artworks that represent these powerful figures who possess
all the characteristics of a real
Madonna.
Maria Smits: Goddesses-Doggesses is
on viewApril 29, 2011 through May
21, 2011 in The Closet Box of Box13 ArtSpace at 6700 Harrisburg Boulevard,
Houston, Texas 77011.
Maria Smits was born
in The Netherlands and currently lives and works in Houston, Texas. She studied fashion and monumental textile at the Royal Academy of Fine
Arts, The Hague, The Netherlands. During the first 10 years of her career she owned a
fashion design studio. She designed many exclusive fashion collections, sold in Holland and
Germany. After her post academic study at the V.A., University , The Hague, where she
studied sculpture, etching, digital photography and video, Maria started her career as an
independent artist and curator. She curated exhibitions and exhibited work at Pulchri Studio, The
Hague. Herwork has been included in exhibitions at Gallery New Untitled,
Venlo, Gallery TH, The Hague; Art Berlin, Germany, Art Amsterdam, The Netherlands; and Art
Cologne, Germany, Kunst. Her most recent solo show 'The Adoration of the Mystic Dog' was at Lawndale Art Center in Houston, TX.