Alessandra Suly Bland Intruders

Steinberg’s essay, “The Philosophical Brothel,” of 1972 was a new account of Picasso’s masterwork, Les Demoiselles d’Avignion [Fig. 13]. Steinberg roots his analysis of the painting in its relationship to the viewer. Steinberg extends the role of the viewer until it is he who completes the painting as the male solicitor of the women in the painting: “The picture is a tidal wave of female aggression; one either experiences the Demoiselles as an onslaught, or shuts it off. But the assault on the viewer is only half of the action, for the viewer, as the painting conceives him on this side of the picture plane, repays in kind.”98 The horizontality of the flatbed picture plane, and the new content it allows, makes the viewer’s role an active

The choreographic intention of “Emergence” was the exploration of merging diverse elements together to see what comes from it, like the emergence in relation to arrangements and structures made in nature. The choreographic intention expanded from the idea of concealment. This was clearly identified in the beginning trio where the female dancer is shown trying to escape from her hiding place. In appraisal, the choreographic intention of “Image” was a more simplistic interpretation, one that explored identity and how it is made up of personal experiences we endure and that along the way we are influenced and sometimes inveigled, which can make revealing who we really are at the core oppressive. In comparison to “Emergence”, the movement in “Image” was more vague and indefinite in relation to linking movement to the choreographic intention. Through manipulation of structural devices such as groupings, stillness, tempo and dynamics, the

1985 (Figure 2) first appeared in 1985 plastered on billboards around New York City. The piece is illustrated in monochrome colours so to not distract viewers from the meaning of the poster. The harsh contrast in colours between the black writing and white background make the piece stand out and draw the attention of bypassers. Written on the artwork is a list of well-known museums in New York City and beside them is a score of how many women artists have had one-person exhibits there in the past year. The results showed that the Guggenheim, Metropolitan and Whitney museums each had zero, whilst the Modern museum had one. These results are supposed to shock the audience and make gallery curators feel a sense of guilt, that it’s clear the art world don’t appreciate women artists like they do men. Whist they are confronting the public with that truth they are also providing another critical message with this piece. The Guerrilla Girls identified these museums by first name, not out of convenience, but to make a statement, that the only museums to allow women artist some form of respect like male artist do was the ‘modern’ museum. Emphasising the fact that gender discrimination and bias nature in the art world should be in the past, and the only museum that realises and recognises this is the modern one. The poster’s main message challenges the patriarchal world of art and confronts art galleries

Lorraine O’Gradys’ unintentionally historic performances, seemingly elevate everyday life to the status of art. In her ‘exhibit’ at the Studio Museum, her work is represented through photographs, in ‘Art is…’. Thirty years ago, O’Grady presented ‘Art is’ in the form of a float in the African American Day Parade right here in Harlem. Performers pranced with empty frames, metaphorically capturing fleeting pictures of the people and places that surrounded the route of the parade. By doing so, the trappings of high art were brought out of the museum, into the street, which promotes a new way people might begin to recognize this new art form in the celebrations of every day life. The

    Throughout modern times, art has been a way for individuals to educate, or in better terms, raise awareness on particular social issues. This concept is seen in Doris Salcedo’s installation, Shibboleth. This piece commentates on the issue of separation,

In addition, I will examine the differences between male and female sexuality and how each tended to be perceived and treated by society. Then, I will look at prominent female artists and their personal experiences and beliefs on feminism and the female in their art focusing on how it tended to be received along how male artists responded to it. Mainly, I will be analyzing the clash of sexualized images in art, focusing on the differences not only between male made art versus female art, but the differences in the women’s art community, as well. What are the reasons and goals for women to use a “sexualized image” of women in their art versus

The post-modernist Julie Rrap is a contemporary artist whose focal point rests on the basis of femineity and the way the female identity is represented historically within art. She is a feminist who accuses the ‘male gaze’ of instigating a predatory activity that is accustomed with the norm of society. She relates this norm to existing social structures that are attributed with a patriarchal society, where women were nothing more than sexual objects. All in all this term, the ‘male gaze’ evaluates the predatory voyeurism of society, where the male is the active subject and the female is a passive object of representation.

When we look at this piece, we tend to see the differences in ways a subject can be organized and displayed. This assemblage by Betye Saar shows us how using different pieces of medium can bring about the wholeness of the point of view in which the artist is trying to portray. So in part, this piece speaks about stereotyping and how it is seen through the eyes of an artist.

Finally, the depiction of figure is perhaps the most interesting and intellectually challenging element in this piece. The figure, while emotionally withdrawn from the viewer, is physically imposing. She is looking down and away from the viewer, as if the isn’t aware that she is being watched. Her mask-like facial features also do little in the way of conveying emotion. Her body, however, is quite different. The dark thick lines shaping her muscles and limbs, the detail in the curls of her hair, the placement of her fingers, and her exposed breast all demand the attention of the viewers’ eye. The bold lines that define her legs, waist, and hip, make her seem intrusively part of our space. The awkward placement of her

Throughout history, art has continuously had the power to alter and influence the society we live in. This essay will highlight the correlation between art and society. By using a specific show that has had a significant impact on the performance industry. The movie Hairspray is set in the 1960’s in America in the town of Baltimore. There were many social contextual issues at this time, specifically revolving racial segregation but also issues such as body image, gender representations, and the stratification of social structure.

Indeed, it portrays a transformation of social life into economic life, a theme that the artist exploited in his representation of professional women. Specifically, Degas represented professional women in a way that showed how their bodies were singularly “oppressed” by their work. The Dance Lesson represents a number of women who appear to have been forced to spend long hours working on strenuous and disciplined balletic moves. Particularly the female on the foreground to the left who appears lost in deep thought is in a state of near collapse, sleeping on her crossed elbows. Another lady in pink sits on a chair and looks on others lazily while at the farthest of the plane there is a group of girls, one fanning herself, another leaning on the wall, and another pair appears to be massaging their arching muscles. Kane cites that one can choose to see the lady in the foreground in a red shawl as a “statue of cares and weariness.” Iskin also confirms that “Degas returned to their bodily particularity, their weariness and their shared human predicament.” Most of the young ladies in The Dance Lesson bear the signs of their labour, for some still, maintain their posture that ballet training demands even while slumped in fatigue. This exhibition of their working status at all times reflects a popular theme on the working woman in the late 19th century.

Degas is an artist best known for his enchanting and delicate paintings of ballerinas. Undoubtedly, these works have a high degree of charming appeal, and rightfully deserve the praise they are given. However, the power of Degas as an artist extends far beyond the whimsical, enchanting tulle skirts and delicate foot positions. The paintings of Degas can be viewed as a window into Parisian life during a time of great change and social disruption. Degas’s art brings into question: What does it mean to be a woman in the Urban Paris of the modern world? Degas, through his painting, Women on the Terrace of a Café, Evening, depicts urban modernity through a detached lens to realistically portray the female identification problem as a result of the deregulation of prostitution in 19th-century Paris.

In this essay I will be looking into the work of Marina Abramovic in relation to the Feminist movement. By looking at her work, I aim to emphasise her influence on this movement. In this essay, I shall also briefly examine the works of Abramovic, particularly Art is Beautiful, Artist must be Beautiful (1975) and four of her performances from her Rhythm series (10 (1973), 0 (1974), 2 (1974), and 5 (1974)). I shall describe the history of the Feminist movement and its influence in order to develop an understanding of Abramovic’s influence.

There is some disparity between the way critics and philosophers like Judith Butler view Cindy Sherman's work and the way that Cindy Sherman speaks of her photographs. It may be the disparity that exists between many modern artists, who often operate on an intuitive level, and the philosopher critics who comment upon them from a theoretical perspective or a pre-established framework. On one level, Cindy Sherman may only be playing "dress-up" (as she herself admits) in her famous History Portraits (1989-90) (Berne, 2003). On another level, however, her "dressing-up" may be indicative of a deeper problem in modern gender identity theory which is the problem of "becoming" woman (Butler, 1994) or, as Judith Butler sees it, the problem of performativity. In the History Portraits, Sherman may certainly be said to be "performing" and perhaps even attempting to "become" the male and female characters she represents in her work. Indeed, it is upon such a premise that philosopher critics and gender theorists find her work so engaging. This paper will examine Cindy Sherman and her History Portraits in relation to Judith Butler's gender theory, the portrayal of the self, and how gender identity has changed throughout the course of modern history. It will examine representations of womanhood from Romantic Idealism to Post-Modernism and will also

This idea is relevant because on the stage, the Restoration actress, is nothing but an ornament in the male gaze. This attitude is apparent as Thomas Shadwell links the new phenomenon of female performers with painted theatrical scenes, both innovative commodities for audience consumption: