Earlier this month, 52 Walker opened its latest exhibition in downtown New York–Baby Blue Benzo, a digital video and 16mm project shot by artist Sara Cwynar. Scaled to the walls of the gallery, the exhibition explores the narrative behind consumerism and beauty aesthetics, made captivating by Cwynar’s fanciful imagination.

Throughout the exhibition, the theme of consumption is on display, juxtaposed with a dream-like setting, as clouds and hazy images fill up the space–nodding to the “Benzo” in the shows title, a slang word for benzodiazepine medications, like Xanax, used to treat anxiety. The works question our role within society and what we value most, as images of beauty icons, like Pamela Anderson and various other pin-up models appear throughout collages. 

Baby Blue Benzo also features distorted images of vintage race cars and a timeless 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR. Using these vehicles as a metaphor for the movement of time, expansion, and luxury, Cwynar is able to create a visual of the modern state of consumption. Transportation is key to industrial expansion, and throughout history, transportation technology has served as a leading push to expanding society, and the economy. 

Mixing vernacular photography, multimedia, and audio to enhance the exhibit, Cwynar has created an immersive experience for the viewer as they walk through the gallery. The intrusive voice of an unseen narrator plays throughout the space, acting as a guide and discussing our relationship with cars, beautiful women, and the aesthetic values that trickle into consumer culture.

The exhibition shows an ethereal view of beauty–the image of Pamela and other race car girls show the exuberance that comes with femininity, and how it also is actively consumed, questioning how we interpret beauty, and how women and feminine bodies are viewed on a larger scale. Women like Pamela Anderson are credited for their beauty, and the grip they have on our culture, but also speak to America’s obsession with female bodies and femininity as a commodity of its own. What does beauty mean in a society driven by capital? Can anything just be beautiful, or is it the consumption of the product that makes it so?

A highlight of the exhibition, Doll Index, portrays a female mannequin that’s been pieced together in a collage style, with various hair accessories and makeup products scattered around. With a vintage magazine style catalog at the bottom, it showcases how society beauty as a way to categorize and consume women.. 

Baby Blue Benzo challenges our roles as active consumers, and pushes us to question how we engage with products, and ideas like beauty. Cwynar showcases how we are all part of the consumerist machine, and forces us to question our place in it.

‘Baby Blue Benzo’ featuring work by Sara Cwynar is on view at 52 Walker now through December 21.