ABUSE BOUQUET is meant to pose the question of what it means to simultaneously accept and resist what is feminine. The answer is an assertion of power not only by Yatrofsky but by any 21st century artist, born on the eve of the millennium. So-called millennials in some ways were a generation of Baroness von Wagner’s—a generation unburdened by the old world of pre-neoliberalization, brought up by families and a culture who promised a life of unlimited possibilities. But this was a fabrication. All the old limitations still existed and in fact were fortified by the conservatism of freedom lovers like the Reaganites and Thatcherites. The new status quo never wanted the youth to break free. Thus the artist who breaks against the wall is the one who stands out. This is the point of art, naturally. What are you even doing if you aren’t being threatened by your school, by your family, your state, country, society, world. You are actually nothing to them unless you are a threat to the homogeneous superstructure.
What then is the cost of being a threat? With the fate of Baroness von Wagner in mind, ABUSE BOUQUET is Yatrofsky’s response.