TMH’s solo presentation of the French artist MARY SUE (assumed identity) features her new photo-performance series ENTARTAINMENT, 2022. As has become her practice, the artist plays with the feminist character whose name she has adopted: a “flawless Mary Sue” who, seemingly naïve, somewhat unconsciously reveals the most tragic and shameful aspects of life. (Mary Sue’s most recent large project for TMH centered on the plight of women employed in menial jobs.)

In these works, Mary Sue investigates her singular “inverted autofictions” by turning to classic female figures from literary texts, TV, and cartoons. These perfect, iconic characters, which have defined the imaginations of countless generations of girls and have contributed to the construction of the Western female self-image, end up caught in a self-inflicted “pie-in-the-face” predicament. Unperturbed—as they are beautiful superheroines and/or fashion plates—they seem to enjoy being covered in cream no less than living out their picture-perfect destinies.