Gender Politics in Art

The exhibit and artist lecture, called Female Forms and Facets: Artwork by Women from 1975 to the Present, at Central Connecticut State University was curated with the idea of giving women artists a place to say what they wanted to say and express what they wanted to express.

It featured original art work by Judy Chicago, Cindy Sherman, Judy Fox, Janine Antoni, Penny Arcade (not her real name), Lisa Yuskavage, Sara Risk, Carolee Schneemann (who spoke) and Candice Raquel Lee.

Feminism has never been an option for me, it is a survival mechanism, I was born a feminist. It is painful to watch women betray women in attempts to be competitive, careerist, sarcastic, cynical, and clever in the climb to the patriarchal top of the postmodern heap.

"Feminism is the radical notion that women are people." This is so obvious, why is it that feminist issues are up again? Didn't we take care of things in the second wave of feminism? No, then a quieter third wave is upon us.

Since Art perpetuates culture, and cultural stereotypes distract women from the real work of becoming a whole person, I will be writing more on this.




VENUS OF WILLENDORF: In ancient cultures, women had true power. The Venus of Willendorf is an idealization of the female figure, the Mother Goddess or universal mother. Suggesting fertility, and a symbol of security and success. Is this female form attractive? Is this our cultural ideal of beauty?

VENUS SCULPTURE by JUDY FOX 2004. What about this image? Notice the placement of the hands in both sculptures.

Critical Theory III "Who is Speaking?"

Critical Theory is best understood when we can relate it to our experiences. Here is a section of my second paper, a thought piece called "Who is Speaking?" You can download the PDF (by clicking on the name of the paper), if you want to read more. I stuck to the word count, so it's not that long. Any comments are always welcome.

"While traveling in Afghanistan, I was wearing a traditional Mexican blouse that was skillfully embroidered. Upon walking into an embroidery shop in Kabul, an old man who owned the shop, excitedly stood up and approached me when I came in. He reached out to examine the blouse closely. He was so enthralled with the embroidery; he cast aside strict social norms and touched the embroidered blouse at my shoulder. I was not afraid; all he saw was the embroidery. I understood his behavior and recognized his passion.

It was not only the craftsmanship, but also the stylized symbols that cause his excitement. Embroidery and rug making motifs are shared among the nomadic tribes that cross borders between Russia, Iran, Pakistan and India. The taboo of touching a woman in public was outweighed by this man’s astonishment and admiration for the folk art embroidery created by Mexican culture. Art speak across time and continents from one culture to another. Art does not have borders. Paradoxically, I was not important to either culture, yet without me, this meeting wouldn’t have happened. Thinking about this, I determined that there must be a ‘universal’ language of art. Why do primitive symbols look similar or in some cases the same regardless of time or place, worldwide?"

Art for...

As I read all this theory, I'm thinking about what Art gets used for. If you can think of anything else, I'll add it to the list.

Art's Sake (just because)

Therapy (therapeutic nature)

Pleasure (sensuousness, beauty )

Expression (the self, a group)

Spirituality (search for divinity)

Life's sake (a celebration of)

Commercialism (to buy and sell)

Fun (to have a good time)

Exploration (find the new)

Children (growth)

Adults (growth)

Education (truth)

Aesthetics (beauty)

Shocking (out of comfort zone)

Soothing (to calm down, meditative)

Healing (to feel better)

Profit (financial gain)

Ritual (to express beliefs, culture)

Experience (knowledge, what is good)

Communication (to dialog, share)

Decoration (eye candy)

Inside (personal art)

Outside (public art)

Entertainment (distraction)

Fantasy (imagination)

Exploitation (power)

Intimidation (power)

Innovation (invention)

Revolution (incitation)

Evolution (transformation)

The basement, again?

The Guerrilla Girls point out the facts. Count how many images of naked male figures verse naked female figures are displayed in paintings, in our museums.

Women artists work is being purchased by museums... and kept in the basement! Alright, not quite sure sexism, racism, ageism and corruption exists? Can you say "backlash"...watch this and wept all you women and enlightened men artists...

In six months...

It's hard to maintain motivation, particularly when it's dark and gloomy like it has been in Connecticut, for the past week. I was looking at the dates for six months before we have to be back in Boston. It gave me a new perspective. Somehow, looking at these dates lights a fire under me.

What if someone said... "you only have six months left to"... fill in the blank. Hmm, somehow, this makes me feel like being more productive to look at it this way.

Thought I'd share it with you, we all wrestle with motivation. Note: We are done with the first column and half way down the second. Yikes!

Who Are You? Who? Who?

The article "Two Methodologies for the Interpretation of Abstract Expressionism" by Franic V. O'Connor, 1988, has a section called "The Psychodynamically Considered Creator".

Or translated, what kind of an artist are you? He writes "An artist can be understood, specifically, as a person fixated at the visual stage of early development..." Essentially, artists have a partly unconscious NEED to make things. The need to make things is "manifested in various cultural contexts." He creates a fascinating list of various kinds of artists.

Is it worth figuring out where ones work comes from? What happens if your work crossed into more than one category? What about other categories he didn't list? Are these categories valid?

• "A shaman making a ritual object ('primative artist')
  
  
• A "naif " making an object for personal or communal use ('folk artist')
  
  
• A self expressionist ('romantic') using the medium to engender and project personal imagery
  
  
• A self-suppressionist ('classicist') using the medium to contrive formal compositions that mask personal impulse
  
  
• An academic traditionalist ('mannerist') using the imagery of precursors as self-evident and inviolable
  
  
• A decorator ('aesthete') using the elements of a style as ends to themselves
  
  
• And an absolute solipsist ('madman') working with visual imagery totally outside a social context."

Mentor Meeting with Robert Henry

Robert Henry is my new mentor for this semester. I met with him last Saturday at his studio in Wellfleet on Cape Cod. He introduced me to his wife, Selina Trieff. Selina is currently exhibiting in a group show in Fairfield, CT. Bob has a second student he is mentoring along with myself.

I brought up my work to his large studio overlooking the quiet bay. He was very generous with his time and spot on, in his critique of my work. His suggestions were that I focus on:

• Painting is composing (composition) and composing is Painting! Think of the whole, not specific parts of the painting.
  
  
• Be more aware of the surface of the paint, don't lose the surface texture of the paint with too much pictorial transparency.
  
  
• Work on more than one painting at a time and heighten awareness of color relationships.
  
  
• Be bold and decisive as monumental space can be achieved without actual physical size.
  
  
• Create fewer shapes and vary their sizes.

Video about Henry and Trieff:
Their Lives in Art: Robert Henry and Selina Trieff, a one-hour documentary, is the story of the life and work of two painters whose nearly 50 years of married life has been devoted to the making of art.