ITHACA, N.Y.- The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University presents the exhibit Dangerous Waters: Three Solo Shows through October 22. Linked by maritime themes and using the languages of Romanticism and popular culture, these three solo shows of work by Don Doe, Dylan Graham, and Sally Smart not only suggest the peripatetic nature of artists’ lives, but more broadly address such issues as identity, immigration, and colonialism. All three artists are creating new work for their installations at the Johnson.

Australian artist Sally Smart’s project began with the question of whether or not women pirates existed. Her large-scale assemblages are full of philosophical references to identity and feminism. Smart uses the image of the woman pirate to upset our expectations of sexual roles. Smart will be in residence for five days to install her piece specifically designed for the gallery space at the Johnson.

Dutch artist Dylan Graham addresses colonialism and immigration in intricate paper cutouts that are embellished with decorative flourishes inspired by folk art traditions. Like Smart’s collages, Graham’s silhouettes feature frigates and maps that function as metaphors for human conflicts and refuge-seeking.

In his watercolors and paintings of women pirates, Brooklyn-based artist Don Doe, like John Currin and Lisa Yuskavage, critiques the male gaze while addressing complex issues related to authorship. Spoofing kitschy illustration and thus crossing the boundary between high art and pulp fiction, Doe’s work, too, proposes a new sexual identity as it displays a bawdy sense of irony.