"Dugger, who is 34, has been a steadily rising force in the art world for the past few years, following her buzzy debut with "Out of Body" at New York's Sargent's Daughters in 2021. Known for her maximalist, soft-sculpture figurative creations, Dugger creates mixed-media works that fuse Southern Gothic aesthetics with the language of girlhood. Glitter, bows, and gingham abound in her works."
"Now, in "Freak Flags," her third solo exhibition with Sargent's Daughters (through February 28, 2026), she transforms the American flag with her bright and unabashed visual language. Six mixed-media flags are on view, each measuring 3 feet by 5 feet, the dimensions of a standard home-use flag. These flags approximate the "stars and stripes" design, but here red, white, and blue are replaced by shades of hot pink, bright green, and glittery blacks."
"Gingham, barbed wire, fringe, and paint make up their surfaces. In one work, Freak Flag II, the stars are even made of glittery nipple tassels. Dugger first started thinking about flags back in 2024. In New York for the opening of her exhibition "Tough Love," Dugger made a pilgrimage to the Museum of Modern Art to see Jasper Johns's iconic Flag painting in person."
Victoria Dugger, 34, creates maximalist soft-sculpture mixed-media work that blends Southern Gothic aesthetics with the language of girlhood, using glitter, bows, and gingham. Freak Flags, her third solo show at Sargent's Daughters through February 28, 2026, presents six 3-by-5-foot flags that approximate stars-and-stripes forms while replacing red, white, and blue with hot pinks, bright greens, and glittery blacks. Surfaces combine gingham, barbed wire, fringe, and paint; Freak Flag II uses glittery nipple tassels for stars. A 2024 MoMA viewing of Jasper Johns's Flag and Dugger's MFA from the University of Georgia informed the project's graphic and material impulse.
Read at Artnet News
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