Young Montreal artist Marianne Pon-Layus inserts her own likeness into every painting at the exhibition Scènes de Genre currently showing at Galerie Lilian Rodriguez. They are not strictly self-portraits, rather she paints her alter-ego, an imagined wilder, rebellious version of herself.

Referencing classical painting, pop culture, even a book titled “Good Manners for Girls,” Pon-Layus takes on the role of Marylin Monroe in her iconic pose over a subway vent, she is a prom queen clutching a bouquet of roses, she is on display at a slave market.

But Pon-Layus is not sticking to her script when she acts out the roles for young women that society has determined for them. The artist subverts each scene with images of sexuality and aggression, creating an unsettling tension as Pon-Layus is both the vulnerable victim and the dominating assailant.

Every buyer at the slave market is also a version of herself, staring back at her nude body. Her Marylin is surrounded by a pack of wolves, which are also crouching versions of herself, her head morphed into vicious beasts ready to pounce.

The ambivalence the artworks create is amplified by Pon-Layus’ delicate painting style which borders on drawing, and her warm colour palette dominated by pastel hues. She often exaggerates the dot-matrix marks of her reference materials, especially in the “Good Manners” series. The vintage look of the reproduction also indicates how dated the stereotypes are, and so becomes part of the question of why we still adhere to them.

Marianne Pon-Layus challenges our ideas about how young women are portrayed in the media, and questions the chamaeleon-like abilities society expects from them.

Galerie Lilian Rodriguez, space 405
Marianne Pon-Layus
Scènes de Genre
January 21 – February 25, 2012
www.galerielilianrodriguez.com