Tennessee-based artist Beth Edwards approaches the subject of toy dolls much like a still-life painter. The artist’s interest in this subject stems from the social implications that are conceived through the dolls and the impressions that they have on children. Often, Edwards will deviate for the exact image of a particular toy and re-contextualize the work by feminizing masculine toys or vice versa. For example, Edwards altered an image of a classic Lincoln Log toy by rendering the object in a soft pastel “feminine” color palette. The artist is an MFA graduate from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana (1987), and received her BFA from Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia (1982). She has been featured two times in the New American Paintings catalogue (2001, 2004) and was recently featured in the exhibition “Tooth and Claw” at the Tory Folliard Gallery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Other exhibitions include “Homegrown: Southeast” at the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA) and “Side by Side” at the Brooks Museum in Memphis, Tenn.

The installation “Bride Fight” is a suspended moment in an explosion of combat between two bridal gowns. Artist E.V. Day has created a series of sculptures that challenge conventional feminine stereotypes through exploding women’s garments. Installed in several locations is “G-Force,” an installation with hundreds of g-strings in fighter jet formation. Each sculpture is constructed with a complex wire system used to suspend small pieces of fabrics, allowing for a stop-motion effect. Last year, Day presented “Intergalactic Installations” at Art Basel Miami with the Deitch Projects and with the Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum. The artist has completed commissions for NASA and has works in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art and the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York.

Brooklyn-based painter Jay Davis is currently exhibiting a new series of paintings with the Shoshana Wayne Gallery in Santa Monica, Calif. Davis creates large acrylic paintings on vinyl that distort reality and space by flattening images and overlaying the painting with geometric patterns. Each painting is meticulously rendered with layers of mysterious symbols and forms, some of which are more ambiguous than others. Davis was born in Charleston, S.C., and attended the Ringling School of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida, and the New York Studio Program (AICAD) in New York City. Davis has exhibited with the Mary Boone Gallery (2003, 2005) and with the Stux Gallery in New York City (2001, 2002). The artist has also been featured in such group exhibitions as Prague Biennale: “Peripheries Become the Center” in Prague, Czech Republic (2003), and “Terra Non Firma” at the Howard House Gallery in Seattle.

New York-based artist Chris Gentile creates sculptures for the sole purpose of photographing them. The artist exhibits each work as a large photographic C-print, thus distancing the actual object from the viewer. His images promote a conceptual space relation and deception of reality through the ambiguity of form. The artist constructs the objects specifically for the photograph, creating a co-dependency between object and image. Chris Gentile is a MFA graduate from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and received his undergraduate degree from Ringling School of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida. The artist has recently exhibited “Penchant to Drift” at the Gregory Lind Gallery in San Francisco (2006) and “Thinking About Not Thinking” with the Jeff Bailey Gallery in New York (2005). In 2000, Gentile received a Professional Artist Fellowship from the Virginia Museum of Art.

Chinese artist Shen Shaomin creates new hybrid creatures by reconfiguring and combining the bones of several different animals. Using real bone, the artist is able to produce natural history museum-quality exhibitions that are as interesting scientifically as they are artistically. Each piece represents fables, folklore and mythology, while simultaneously referencing contemporary issues of genetic modification and hyper experimentation in science. His creatures in death reveal ideas and possibilities for the future. Shaomin was born in Heilongjiang Province, China and currently lives and works in Sydney, Australia, and Beijing, China. Recent exhibitions include “Scary Monsters” at the Osage Contemporary Art Space in Hong Kong, China (2006), and “The Organisms of Factory” at the Urs Meile Gallery in Luzern, Switzerland (2005). Last year, the artist was included in the Liverpool Biennial and in two separate exhibitions at the Guangdong Museum in Guangzhou, China.

Opening this month at DreamBagsJaguarShoes (MySpace) in London is an exhibition by the influential Bristol-based artist Mudwig Dans. Dans has developed a reputation as an innovative yet elusive underground artist. Infusing an aesthetic rooted in 20th-century propaganda posters, illustrations and animation, Dans daringly juxtaposes found photographic imagery with experimental computer-based alterations. The subversive images contained in the work reference forms often found in Disney and Dr. Suess animations. The hybrid forms adorn media, ranging from computer animations and billboard subversions to canvases and wall paintings. The artist has previously exhibited “Talking Walls” at Bristol’s Arnolfini and has been included in the group show “Hollywood Remix” at the Wooster Collective Arts Space in New York City. Additional images of Dan’s work can be found on kuidoosh.com.

Iranian artist Shirin Neshat addresses the role of women in Islamic society through compelling photo and video work. Her early work consisted of photos of veil-covered women in extremely compromised or uncomfortable positions with writing across their hands or faces. Her more recent work deals primarily with the transition between art and cinema, allowing for a narrative to create particular characters. By basing her video on the novel “Women without Men” by Shahrnush Parsipur, the videos allow the narrative to portray themes of refuge and identity. Her new work in the Barbara Gladstone Gallery in New York was widely acclaimed with a review in Art in America and a photo essay with Time Magazine. In 2006 alone, Neshat showed with the Centro Atlantico de Arte Moderno in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the Stedelijk Museum CS in Amsterdam and the Lumen Travo Gallery in Amsterdam. Neshat was recently featured with the Venice Beinnale in 1999 and the Whitney Biennial of 2000.