Surgery by Dana Schutz

Surgery, Dana Schutz (2004)

Are little girls all made of sugar and spice and everything nice?

As you'll discover in this painting, the truth is laid out a bit differently. The complexities of who we are is the basis of Women and Gender Studies at JCCC. And perhaps there is no better place to reinforce that than the painting Surgery at the Nerman Museum of Art by Dana Schutz.

Theresa Bembnister of Pitch Weekly wrote shortly after Bruce Hartman acquired the work:

"Surgery is a creepily spectacular commentary on the meanness of little girls. Seven of them gather around what resembles an oversized Operation game board there's a glassy-eyed little girl lying exposed on the examination table.

The top of her skull has been sliced cleanly off, her limbs lie across the table bent at awkward angles and her chest is an open cavity. Three of the girls lean over their specimen, picking at her with instruments in their gloved hands. The happy-colored palette -- girly pinks, comforting yellows and warm oranges -- and the checkered picnic tablecloth make for a pleasant backdrop.
But they're in stark contrast to the emotionless, calculating expressions on the girls' faces".