Paleontology Pin Up Series

Brash, funny, and provocative, Paula Gillen's Paleontology Pin Up Series (2014) is an eclectic and aesthetic mash-up of pre-historic landscapes, women's bodies, weaponry, gadgetry and the gaze. Gillen's compositions evoke surrealism and feminism in their ideological deconstruction of a male-oriented visual culture. Pin-up girls, race cars, and the ever-lasting march to war coincide with dinosaurs and camera lenses amidst the vivid backdrop of Czech artist Zdeněk Burian’s paleo era illustrations. The result is a bold re-visioning of our species and sexuality in the context of patriarchy, pornography, and the photographic apparatus. - Shira Segal, Director of Film Studies, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Albany.