Play With Me: Dolls – Women – Art
My book Play With Me: Dolls – Women – Art looks at new representations of women’s bodies in art and the feminist motivations behind this work ― out now with Hachette.
“A whip-smart read that cleverly connects the dots between art, technology and feminism. This book casts an intelligent, incisive eye over the contemporary history of the nude, and profiles the artists pushing the boundaries of society’s assumptions and norms about women-identified bodies.” – Zing Tsjeng, Editor of Broadly.
“Shows how artists work to reflect deeper feelings of the hurt and damage, and to see the agency in woman’s ways of being.” – Susie Orbach
Select Press
The Guardian – “Grace Banks’ new book showcases the artists using feminine figurines to explore politics, gender and identity”
The Telegraph – “A deflated sex doll and an eerie recreation of Vermeer’s Girl With a Pearl Earring are among the unconventional works celebrated in this book that attempts to tackle the ownership of the female nude”
i-D Magazine – “The book, which is full of thought-provoking interviews with artists using dolls and doll motifs in varying forms hones in on an exploration of the female body in terms of Instagram and its now ubiquitous association with so called ‘hashtag feminism’. But what Grace explores in the work she highlights are issues that extend far beyond social media and deeply into daily life, past, present and where we’re headed next.”
ARTnews Magazine – “Thought-provoking works are at once of the moment and of all moments, timely and timeless, pulling mythology into the present and bringing to bear moral and life-and-death matters, some even more pressing than the ongoing battles of the sexes.”
Lenny Letter – “Makes a case for the power of the female gaze”
Hunger Magazine – “The first in-depth survey exploring the ways in which contemporary artists use dolls, 3D sculpting and robotics to represent the female form; from ‘Dutch Renaissance’ style portraits of silicone sex dolls in everyday settings to controversial animatronic artwork.”
Artsy – “Brings us into progressive conversations happening around gender, identity, and sexual independence”
Jezebel – “Play With Me is ultimately a book about how women artists are reclaiming images of women created under the male gaze, and the ways in which female artists create their own art that center female bodies.”
Women’s Wear Daily – “Her work has taken on new relevance in light of recent backlash against photographer Terry Richardson and the emerging discussion over harassment under the guise of art.”
Flavorwire – “Explores the impact that media and advertising play in defining beauty for girls and women.”
Published extracts:
Art Escapes: Hidden Art Experiences Outside the Museum (May 10 2022)
My second book published by Gestalten looks at the reasons to discover art across the world, outside of museums. Art exists all around us — we just need to know where to look. Escaping the conventional settings of the museum or gallery, Art Escapes explores a variety of art pieces across the world, from a Japanese forest to the Las Vegas desert. It is available to pre-order here.