JAN GROOVER Untitled, 1987 Vintage chromogenic color print 20x24 inch / 50,8x61 cm (c) Jan Groover / Galerie Miranda

Written by Anna Debiec

Copyedited by Chloë Rain

On September 1, Galerie Miranda released its autumn 2022 program, Jo Ann Callis et Jan Groover: Early Color. The exhibition showcases two revolutionary female artists who produced work during the 1970s. Here, we contemplate sensuality, sexuality, and femininity in the domestic sphere. As outlined in the exhibition press release, Jo Ann Callis and Jan Groover produced work about their home environment and personal struggles; however, they never specifically declared themselves to be feminist artists during the women’s liberation movement.

JAN GROOVER Untitled, 1979 (from Kitchen Still Lifes series) Vintage chromogenic color print 16x20 inch / 40,6x50,8 cm (c) Jan Groover / Galerie Miranda

Jo Ann Callis created a visual representation of femininity in a tentative domestic environment and confronted the psychological restraints imposed upon women through her art. Callis used her own tragedies and obstacles to introduce the concept of sexuality. She produced, according to the exhibition press release, her seminal series Early Color in the 1970s whilst caring for her children, attending night school, and undergoing a divorce. Many themes, including topics in sexuality, domestic life, sensuality, and repression, are evident in her work.

JAN GROOVER Untitled, 1987 Vintage chromogenic color print 16x20 inch / 40,6x50,8 cm (c) Jan Groover / Galerie Miranda

The ideas of psychological restraint and sexuality are clearly present in Jo Ann Callis’ work, Untitled, c. 1976. This piece demonstrates the physical and psychological constraints that women struggled to escape during the 1970s, when gender roles were prominent in society. The photograph's focal point is a woman exposed and restricted by clear wire that appears to be tight against her bare flesh. Callis alludes to the sexualization of women by utilizing sexual innuendos in her work. The woman’s breasts and nipples are visible, and a white blouse is seen covering part of her body. She is clothed and coated in white, which, in Western cultures, often signifies purity, virginity and cleanliness; however, in Eastern cultures, this color can represent sadness and imminent death. The psychological restraint present in this single image can be interpreted as the domestic limitations produced in 20th Century America.

JO ANN CALLIS Untitled, from Early Color portfolio, c. 1976 Archival Pigment prints 24 x 30 in. (c) Jo Ann Callis / Galerie Miranda

Artist Jan Groover’s photography is also represented in the exhibition. Groover meticulously controls the elements in her photography by balancing natural objects with man made objects or intensifying the natural colors in her art. Groover alludes to more simplistic themes in her work, including the beauty of simplicity, domesticity, the complexity of the real world, and formalism. Her approach is rooted in a minimalist ideal.

JO ANN CALLIS Untitled, from Early Color portfolio, c. 1976 Archival Pigment prints 16x20 inch (c) Jo Ann Callis / Galerie Miranda

The concept of domesticity and simplicity are present in Groover’s work, Untitled, 1979. She transforms ordinary kitchen utensils such as baking pans, knives, and spatulas, into objects of beauty using a large format camera. Every element in her photograph is controlled, and each kitchen item is converted into an abstract amalgam of planes and shapes. Viewers ponder the modern color palette that is utilized by Groover and in turn creates a muted background to focus on the central principle of the photograph: the kitchen items. Upon further examination, the kitchen utensils appear as exotic and mysterious because their scale has been enhanced drastically. Groover continued to expand upon this methodology and applied her background in painting to her work in photography.