NEW YORK.- The Kashya Hildebrand Gallery presents Woman: Self Portrait, on view June 1st - July 1st, 2006. "Woman: Self Portrait" is a group exhibition composed of seventeen local and international women artists; offering a multi-cultural view of the contemporary female experience. As the title suggests, the artwork provides an insight into how women perceive themselves as artists, professionals, children, parents and members of society. In addition, it comments on how those self-perceptions might clash with their surrounding social and political environments.

This exhibition hopes to raise questions regarding roles, identity, responsibility and expectations related to gender, and most importantly – raise alertness to gender based violence. Above all, it hopes to welcome the viewer into one moment within the cycle of a woman's life.

Although each artwork represents a personal and intimate experience of an individual artist, the issues raised here are very much universal. Whether the artist is from Iran, Indonesia, Israel, Mexico or the US – concepts such as female identity, sexuality, body image and sexual abuse (among others) are all translated into the language of art. Many of the participating artists have used art not only as a tool to express themselves, but also as an essential source of healing.

"Woman: Self Portrait" is a benefit exhibition to raise awareness and funds for the non-profit corporation V-Day (The 'V' stands for Victory, Valentine and Vagina). This organization distributes funds to grassroots, national, and international organizations and programs that work to stop violence against women and girls. This exhibition is part of UNTIL THE VIOLENCE STOPS: NYC, a festival of theater, spoken word, performance and community events created to bring the issue of violence against women and girls front and center in the culture and the community. The festival will take place during June 12 – 27.