Works
Men Only Tower 2017
"Subversion as an aesthetic strategy is central to Clare Strand’s playfully sculptural work Men Only Tower (2017), which consists of 68 copies of the British softcore publication Men Only (published between the 1930s and 1970s) which unashamedly claimed: ‘We don’t want women readers. We won’t have women readers.’ Interleaved within the magazines are 20 images of ‘resistance’ in black envelopes designed to subvert the male-only premise of the original editorial statement. Precariously stacked one on top of the other in acknowledgement of the shaky foundations upon which hegemonic masculinity is founded and in a nod to its possible future collapse, Strand’s decision to contain these publications in a vertical glass case, referencing the phallic form, speaks not only of exaggerated size with its clear reference to Trumpian America but astutely alludes to how women have historically been excluded from the corridors of power, and how that practice continues to prevail in our contemporary moment'.
https://www.esquire.com/uk/design/a32373955/barbican-masculinities-photography-virtual-tour/
The 68 Men Only magazines mirror the number of floors that Trump claims make up his NY tower. The actual number of floors is 58. Inside the magazines centre spreads are 20 secreted images of resistance in black envelopes.