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Exhibition of Dina Goldstein’s Modern Girl  to become artist’s UK debut

Dina Goldstein’s solo exhibition Modern Girl will make its first ever UK appearance at Masterpiece Art, London. 

Debuted in Paris and originally created in 2016, Dina Goldstein’s fascinating series Modern Girl, rooted in socio-political theory, could hardly be any more relevant today in 2020.

With the major worldwide political upheavals of recent times and the ongoing righteous battle for equality played out very much in the public eye, Goldstein’s Modern Girl creates discourse on many prevalent societal issues. Through a layered, intriguing and wholly original approach, Modern Girl tackles identity, equality, immigration, capitalism, as well as a perceived East-West cultural divide. 

“It’s important for me to make beautiful art that has a loud and clear message”

Discussing the roots of the series Goldstein states, “The ‘Modern Girl’ image first appeared in the West and was notable for its bold sexuality, with scantily clad women selling everything from clothing, soap and cigarettes to army recruitment. Chinese pin up girls also began to appear in magazines and posters. More conservatively dressed in silk cheongsams and smooth chignons, these models nonetheless radiated sensuality. Modern Girl, in fact, was inspired by Chinese historians Tani Barlow and Madeleine Yue Dong, who theorised that this Asian version was an extension of a global phenomenon launched by multinational corporations and disseminated by mass media, whose effect was to emphasize Western imperial dominance.”

"Based upon the famous “pin-up girl” advertising posters of 1930s Shanghai, China, this era heralded the emergence of Asian women as individuals, as they began to break away from Confucius tradition that demanded total filial piety alongside crippling beauty practices like foot binding. However, while an expression of gender emancipation, the posters sowed the seeds of a new form of exploitation: the use of the female form to sell consumer products."

Goldstein continued, “I grew up in Vancouver, regarded as the gateway to the East. It has experienced unprecedented immigration from Hong Kong and China in the past 35 years, turning this once provincial community into a vibrant Asian metropolis. The impact of Asian culture has been profound, not only on the city but on me as an individual and artist.  I was inspired by these iconic ads that introduced China, at that time a commercial free society, to the global market.”

Dina Goldstein has held solo and group exhibitions at galleries and institutions across the globe, including France, Israel, Canada, Italy and the USA.