I Dreamed I Had an Art Show
in my Maidenform Bra

There have been such fundamental shifts in American culture since the Women’s Movement of the 1960’s and 70s, that it’s hard to fathom the depth of the changes.  A review of advertising prior to that pivotal era, leads to a now shocking revelation of the narrowly circumscribed roles for women.  Perhaps at some point they will be part of the focus of 20th century archeology.

From 1949 until 1969, one could not open a magazine in the United States without encountering a prominently placed ad for Maidenform bras (one of the longest running campaigns in advertising history).  The ad always pictured a woman in unusual circumstances clad in nothing from the waist up but her bra. The caption, (which became part of common culture) was:  “I dreamed I was . . . in my Maidenform bra,"   “I dreamed I stopped traffic in my Maidenform bra,"  “I dreamed I went shopping in my Maidenform  bra,"  “I dreamed I barged down the Nile in my Maidenform bra."

To someone growing up in those years, the ads were brazen, embarrassing, and accompanied by some ambivalence.  The idea of being in public places bared down to a bra, felt ridiculous if not exotic.  On the other hand, the dreams portrayed were invariably mundane and safe and never ventured from culturally accepted but tiny notions of women’s roles.

Thankfully times have changed and what was once daring, is now a source of humor.  And the perimeters limiting dreams or social audacity have virtually disappeared.  This series is an attempt to play with those now antique ads and the once oppressive views of women that had such strong influence over those of my generation.   I have used them to project the subject into dreams of something vastly more interesting than shopping, something a bit unobtainable (to me at least), like the study of plane geometry, string theory or even ornithology.  Since the point (much like bras of the 1950’s) is to play with these concepts, I’ve taken liberties with the visual interpretation.