January 8, 2010

Lesbian Sasquatch Art

For those who are aware, it is no secret that a strong movement in massive sculpture and other types of dynamic art by women ~ feminists and lesbians ~ has involved Sasquatch and Bigfoot.

Today, Friday, January 8, 2010, at the Art Gallery of Peterborough, near Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Canadian artist Allyson Mitchell’s exhibition “Ladies Sasquatch” opens. It runs until March 7, 2010, there, as the final leg of a traveling exhibition, apparently.

Here is the exhibition announcement:

Ladies Sasquatch: Allyson Mitchell
Allyson Mitchell’s newest installation presents an epic gathering of figures, each one a monumental symbol of female brains, brawn and sexuality – a community of Lady Sasquatches*! The free standing, sculptural works by this Toronto-based artist marry feminist theory with fun fur. Mitchell symbolizes the mythical feminine as something not easily captured or domesticated, or harnessed to sell, yet undeniably powerful and attractive. Ladies Sasquatch is organized and circulated by the McMaster Museum of Art and Curated by Carla Garnet. ”

Mitchell’s sculptures are enormous. In a 7.5-minute interview, she says one is nine and a half feet tall.

The Ladies Sasquatch gather around the campfire.

One does wonder about Noni Brynjolson’s review* of the exhibition, when she writes: “It could be said that Allyson Mitchell’s current exhibition at the Winnipeg Art Gallery revolves around the question, ‘Why have there been no women Sasquatches?’ Mitchell’s show features a cast of lesbian feminist monsters. Attractive, yet intimidating, their presence loudly declares an intrusion of different (scary, to some) voices into public discourse.”

I am not sure Mitchell is asking this question. After all, the fact is that the most famous piece of footage of a Bigfoot ever filmed, on October 20, 1967, is of a female Sasquatch. That clip is hardly unknown, even outside cryptozoology. Brynjolson is clearly a debunker/skeptic of Bigfoot’s existence, although she may know her art quite well. She writes in her review of Mitchell’s art: “I will forever remain a skeptic about entities that lack convincing documentation (Sasquatches…)….” How does she know anything about the documentation that does exist if she doesn’t know that female Sasquatch are readily acknowledged?

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*The continued use of “Sasquatches” seems unfortunate when talking about this exhibition. It appears Allyson Mitchell is aware that the plural of “Sasquatch” is “Sasquatch” from the title of her exhibition: “Ladies Sasquatch.” However, in her interview, she does use the phrase “Sasquatches.” See here for more on “Sasquatch” versus “Sasquatches.”

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Thanks to the news tip from Kelly McGillis.

Loren Coleman About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct). Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015. Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.

Filed under Bigfoot, Breaking News, Cryptotourism, CryptoZoo News, Museums, Photos, Pop Culture, Replica Cryptia, Sasquatch, Women in Cryptozoology