Hershmanlandia

Lynn Hershman Leeson
Gallery Paule Anglim

This is a modest show offering a selection of media works on paper spanning a 35 year period. The prints are presented in a very matter of fact manner, hung on the wall either framed or mounted on aluminum. A series of photo montages from the 70's are stark in their reminder of the feminist body politic not only in content but in execution style. The 80's film stills seem very fresh and in sync with the current trend for found footage images. The "agent" digital prints only whisper with faint echoes of Barbara Kruger.

The most intriguing work is The Roberta Breitmore Project, 1974 when Hershman created a fictional character called Roberta and placed ads in the local paper for a room mate. Much more should have been made of this, it could have drawn in the other works and illuminated her practice in a more considered manner.

Had the overall exhibition installation been more imaginative and spoken to the power of the media Hershman worked with, a more dynamic experience would have emerged. The one digital media installation seemed like an after thought, positioned too close to the exit. However, an exhibition like this is framed by its art historical context. Consideration of the role of artists like Hershman, who worked with technology at a time when few artists let alone women were engaging with new media, is important. This show and the touring retrospective opening at Henry Art Gallery, Seattle, Washington is a salute to her career as artist, film-maker and pioneer.