Beverly Semmes (U.S., born 1958) is a sculptor whose practice also incorporates painting, photography, and performance. These complementary elements adhere in surprising ways, probing the paradoxes and complexities of the female body and its representation.

Semmes became known for her large-scale dress sculptures in the early 1990s. These oversized articles of clothing, primarily dresses, are typically altered by elongating the arms and hemming the length to extend to the floor, often filling the entire gallery. Six Silvers, the suite of dresses included in the exhibition, is a characteristic example of those works—the physical body absent, but the suggestion of presence enormous.

Also included in the exhibition are four new paintings from the artist’s ongoing Feminist Responsibility Project (FRP). Here, Semmes transforms pornographic images with pools of color, shielding both viewer and subject, but also reminding us of what we cannot see. Jointly, these works highlight the alternately monumental, glamorous, grotesque, and humorous nature of Semmes’ sculptural installations.

Six Silvers will remain in the Henry’s permanent collection after the run of the exhibition, thanks to the generosity of the Microsoft Art Collection.

Semmes’ work has been exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; the Museum of Modern Art PS1, New York City; Camden Art Centre, London; and the Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, Ohio; among others. Her work is included in numerous museum collections including the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City; the Denver Art Museum; and the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art. She has been featured in The New York Times, ARTNews, The New Yorker, Art in America, and many other publications. She received her BA and BFA from the Boston Museum School, Tufts University (1982) and her MFA from the Yale University School of Art (1987). Born in Washington, D.C., Semmes currently resides in New York City.