Marjorie Strider

Girl with a Radish

Girl with Radish makes ironic use of pin-up girl imagery, common in Pop Art at the time. Marjorie Strider was one of two women artists asked to participate in a group show at Pace Gallery entitled The First International Girlie Show. Showing next to Pop Artists such as Andy Warhol and Richard Lichtenstein, Strider poked fun at the pin-up imagery created by her men-counterparts.

In this assembled painting, the artist’s blue-eyed model makes erotic eye-contact with the viewer, as if she were just about to seductively bat her lashes. The subject’s isolated face is abstracted by clear lines and shapes, bright colors, and the sculpted extension of her lips and eyelashes. A cherry red radish sits at the edges of the model’s perfect teeth.

The work suggests a motion is about to be performed, a bite into the raw hard surface of the vegetable. Through this subtle humor, Girl with Radish can be seen as a satirical take on erotic imagery that would grow popular amongst Pop Artists. Strider was creating work that considered the rapidly changing milieu of contemporary culture around her.