Cody Pepin
Journal Contributor

Women’s perspective has played an integral role in the progression of modern society.  Artist Betsyann Duval proves this with her exhibition “Free Radicals,” currently on display at the Bromfield Gallery.

Onlookers are treated to a series of powerful collages as soon as they enter the brightly lit gallery located at 450 Harrison Ave. in the South End of Boston.  Dark swirls of color truly bring to life the 14 influential women Duval chose to use as subjects.

“I started thinking about how women influenced my life,” said Duval. “I thought about important role models and how they helped other woman. I picked women I liked, admired, or found engaging.”

At one point in her research, Duval also reached out to friends via e-mail and asked who they felt were influential women that deserved to be part of the current series.

According to Duval, “Free Radicals,” on display until November 27, is a follow up to an exhibit she displayed two years ago entitled “Super Models.”  After the past exhibit, she began to think about how the subjects in that series had influenced their own time, how they themselves were influenced, and the events that shaped their life and times.

With 18 works on display in total, Duval portrays each woman against a backdrop that summarizes the historical context, social movements, and cultural events that were prevalent in the subject’s life.

Janis Joplin is painted against a background including images depicting the Vietnam War, American flags, and a collection of prevalent male celebrities at the time, including Jimi Hendrix and Muhammad Ali. She is also accompanied by Richard Nixon.

Duval explains how each background depicts a series of dichotomies, or different ends of the spectrum. Some images represent conflict, some overlap, and some are the antithesis of each other. “Different sides of perception help ferment change,” Duval eloquently stated.

Other subjects include Germaine Greer, Billie Holiday, Madam CJ Walker, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Marie Curie, Amelia Earhart, and Virginia Woolf. Duval’s favorite piece is a depiction of Grace Paley. Of all the women in the series, Duval feels Paley was the boldest as well as the most socially and politically active.

“The paintings are beautiful,” said Gayle Caruso, 61, of Andover, Massachusetts. “Each person’s story is interesting. It makes you want to go back and look these people up.” Caruso commented that she had seen Janis Joplin in concert and that the paintings bring about a feeling of nostalgia.

All of the subjects were able, in different ways, to change the way society perceives and values women. “The title [Free Radicals] just popped into my head. They were all radical during their formative years,” saidDuval.   “I started wondering what influenced their life, made them able to break the mold and change the way women are perceived.”

Duval, 67, was born in Detroit, Michigan. She currently resides in Acton, Massachusetts. “Free Radicals” is her sixth exhibit at the Bromfield Gallery. All of the pieces were made with oil or encaustic paint.

Her goal for the exhibit is clear. “I want people to think differently about themselves and the lives of others,” Duval said. “The exhibit is based on the power of women.”

Duval admits that it is hard to know how a male audience will respond to her exhibit. She attempts to shift the audiences’ view from a male gaze, so prevalent in history, to a female gaze. Duval hopes that this perspective will resonate with both men and women. Much of her work outside of this exhibit revolves around the idea of a female gaze.

The Bromfield website gives a short description about the exhibit as written by Duval. This blurb mentions that Duval first attempted to celebrate the women in a positive light, but the collages soon turned “darkly ironic.”

“What originally started as a positive, celebratory idea turned into a socially taxing and questioning issue,” Duval explained.

The historical and social context of each woman portrayed carries strong undercurrents of war and oppression. All of them experienced dark issues in their lifetimes.

The gallery website blurb also refers to Zelig, a Woody Allen film from 1983. The plot revolves around a chameleon-like man with the ability to look and act like whoever he is around. The man pops up in all sorts of historical scenes and meets various famous people.

Duval describes herself as Zelig. She embedded a picture of herself from around the age of 10 into all of the paintings in the exhibit. She derived a sense of inspiration by imagining how she would have felt as a part of the events that defined each woman’s life.

Betsyann Duval has won various awards for her art over the years. She works in diverse forms of media, including sculpture and performance art. The majority of her work seems to be held together by a common thread; the female perspective.

“I hope it will get them thinking not only about specific women, but women’s place in society as a whole,” said Duval.