Washington, D.C. – Sculptor Carol Kreeger Davidson’s series Days of Danger (1995) features seven large, smooth metal figures that represent archetypal warrior-goddesses. On view at the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) July 25 – September 14, 2003, these works are thought-provoking expressions of power and aggression.

The large sculptures are headless and topped with curved aluminum hoods. Their limbs form smooth elliptical shapes, and each figure carries a weapon such as an axe, sword, or gun. Arranged in a semicircle, they appear to be hunched together, like coconspirators. Standing firm in their places, they convey pent-up energy, as if ready to spring into action.

NMWA Director Judy L. Larson notes, “Carol Davidson’s sculptures, often interpreted as revelations of the female spirit and inner conflict, can also be seen as a response to the violence and danger of our times.”

Critics such as Donald Kuspit have discussed paradoxes in the works, and how they highlight the sculptures’ roles as warrior-goddesses. They are abstract celebrations of the female spirit asserting themselves with real weapons. The overlapping planes, the contrast between interior and exterior spaces, and the startling use of color all reveal latent conflicts that could be resolved by violence if the goddesses used their weapons rather than merely brandishing them.

For 30 years, Carol Kreeger Davidson has created memorable sculptures that use industrial materials in innovative ways to reinvent the human figure. From her early wall-relief works made of paper and canvas, Davidson moved on to produce larger-than-life sculptures created with unlikely materials such as fiberglass-paper and metal sheets. Rather than welding these materials, Davidson folds and bends them into large tubular and columnar shapes that represent the human form but reveal few anatomical details.

Born in Chicago in 1932, Davidson came late to her artistic career, graduating cum laude honors in Sculpture from the University of Hartford in 1967. She received an M.F.A. Fellowship from Rhode Island School of Design in 1973 and received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Hartford in 1981.

Carol Kreeger Davidson: Days of Danger is generously supported by Arts4All, Ltd. It will be on view at NMWA in the Arkansas Gallery as part of the museum’s ongoing program featuring the works of mature women artists. This installation follows the artist’s traveling retrospective organized by the Reading Public Museum in Reading, Pa.

The book Carol Kreeger Davidson: A Retrospective will be available the museum shop for $24.95. Admission to the museum during Days of Danger will be $5 for adults, $3 for students and people age 60 and over, and free for NMWA members and youth under 18. Free Community Days are the first Sunday and Wednesday of each month.

About the women’s museum

The National Museum of Women in the Arts, founded in 1981 and opened in 1987, is the only museum dedicated solely to celebrating the achievements of women in the visual, performing, and literary arts. Its permanent collection contains works by more than 800 artists, including Judith Leyster, Maria Sibylla Merian, Mary Cassatt, Camille Claudel, Georgia O’Keeffe, Frida Kahlo, Elizabeth Catlett, Lee Krasner,
Helen Frankenthaler, and Louise Bourgeois. The museum also conducts multidisciplinary programs for diverse audiences, maintains a Library and Research Center, publishes a quarterly magazine, and has organized 27 state committees. Nearly 120,000 people visit the museum each year, including thousands of young people who come with schools and scouting groups. NMWA’s national membership of nearly 40,000 is among the top ten percent of museum memberships nationwide. The museum is located at 1250 New York Avenue, NW, Washington, DC, in a landmark building near the White House. It is open Monday-Saturday 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. and Sunday noon - 5 p.m. For information call 202.783.5000 or visit the museum’s website, www.nmwa.org.