Avant Garde : An Exhibition Review

In 1971, Linda Nochlin issued her article “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists? This idea of aesthetic genius, says Nochlin, is fiction. Art is rarely produced entirely by the artist for the idea of personal expression. Few identifiers in contemporary art have been as fraught as the term feminist art. What does it mean, who defines it, and how does it relate to past accomplishments of the feminist movement?

(Millhouse, 2011) In the 1980’s Pollock’s Feminism “critiqued the essential myths of individualism, the artist, and the social constructions of femininity and masculinity that define bourgeois culture”. While the 70’s feminism movement aim was to stand next to the existing masculine dominated culture. “Feminism's encounter with the canon has been complexed and many-leveled: political ,ideology,mythological,methodological and psycho-symbolic” (Pollock, 1999). The 1970’s movement was followed by the immediate task which was “the need to rectify the gaps in historical knowledge created by the consistent omission of women of all cultures from the history of art” (Pollock, 1999). The only art that was put on display was significantly male dominated work, if you wanted to see work created by women, you would have to view them “in a basement or storeroom of a national gallery” (Pollock, 1999). Female artists are only known in their own category of female artists while male artists don’t require a separate category . Art that is created by females have been historically dismissed from the art historical canon as craft, as opposed to fine art. The evident of

With “Outburst” exhibition, the Worth Ryder Art Gallery conveys their primary museum visitor is the recharger. Based on Dr. John H Falk’s work , the Worth Ryder Gallery attracts recharger. A recharger is “a visitor primarily seeking a . . .restorative experience. They see the museum as a refuge from the work-a-day world. .” Outburst a was the Senior Thesis Exhibition for 26 student artists. This showcase allows artist to display their work to the peers and community. Because Outburst is a senior thesis show that reflects the artist's own personal interest, conceptual concerns and materials research. The Wolf Girl and Finale Collection performance, convey inspiration and rejuvenation for the recharger.

Judy Chicago (artist, author, feminist and educator) has a career that now spans five decades. In the late 1960s, her inquiry into the history of women began a result of her desire to expose the truth of women’s experiences, both past and present. She still continues on a crusade to change the perception of women from our history, “Women’s history and women’s art need to become part of our cultural and intellectual heritage.” (Chicago, 2011) Through our history women - their struggles, accomplishments and contribution to history, have been overlooked, downplayed and even completely written out of a male dominated society and culture. In anthropologist Sherry Ortner’s 1974 essay “Is Female to Male as Nature Is to Culture?” she supports this view, writing “…woman is being identified with—or, if you will, seems to be a symbol of—something that every culture devalues,” (Ortner, 1974) Where Mendieta's work primarily came from a striving to belong and an understanding of where she came from, I feel that Chicago's aim was to find a place for all women, past and present in this world, starting with herself in the art world. Chicago did explore her peronal heritage in later works entitled 'Birth Project' and 'Holocaust Project'.

Women are invested in conceptual knowledge in order to avoid being associated with social norms. In the article written by Griselda Pollock, Mary Cassatt: Painter of women and children,” the paintings expressed by Cassatt portray mental stimulation through the female gender. The article analyzes Cassatt’s famous portraits from the late 1800’s, that are drawn to recreate the idea of a “barrier between the spectator and the sitter” (282). One example of this method is, Mrs. Duffee Seated on a Striped Sofa, 1876. This oil painting expresses Cassatt’s gratitude towards her intellectual inspirations. The painting also portrays an attentive distinction between the book and Mrs. Duffee. Cassatt uses the colors of blue and white in the woman’s dress and the book she is reading in order to express the importance of both beings. This use of color and style in her paintings presents the idea that Cassatt acknowledged more feminist styles other than intellectualism.

Arlene Raven’s approaches to art criticism were feminist. She discussed a diversity of concerns that included spirituality, sexuality, the representation of women in art, women as art-makers, ethnicity, language called post-feminism, and critics of the art world. In her essay

Feminism is an important social movement that works for the equality of people. One way to express any movement is through art. Judy Chicago and Staceyann Chin are two feminists that have made an impact with their art. Judy Chicago started art as a young age and cares deeply for the equality of people. She makes art to be put in galleries as well as making huge installations. Staceyann Chin is a spoken word poet that uses her words to promote the equality and women, particularly women of color, and the LGBTQ community. We look into what these women have done that has made them so influential and how they have impacted art with the feminist movement.

Nochlin's criticisms of American and European society are still relevant today, women are still given an unequal chance in the art community. Modern female artists are continually critiqued harsher, especially if their artwork strays from what is deemed as an appropriate feminine piece, such as one that deals with serious political matters. Another limitation is the fact that women are mostly kept in front of the canvas as a muse rather than allowed behind it as an artist. These examples reinforce the ideas that Nochlin discusses regarding historical art injustices which one can still see

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.

Art historians and art theorists debate if Feminist Art was a stage in art history, a movement, or a large-scale shift in ways of doing things. Some have compared feminist art to Surrealism, describing it not as a style of art that was seen but a way of making art. Over the years, many female artist have been a part of the movement or, in modern day, are considered feminist artist, including: Eleanor Antin, Tamara De Lempicka, Jennifer Linto, Jenny Hozler, who went to Ohio University for her BFA and created Truisms, Judy Chicago, stated before was one of the original artist a part of the feminist art movement, Barbara Kruger, and Rora Blue.

Since the first real forms of feminist expression came about, it has and will remain a topic of serious discussion and debate. However, thanks to women like Kate Chopin and Jane Austin feminism was able to reach a much larger crowd and project its message on to more than just its few basic closet followers. Throughout the Victorian era, many women began to question their place in this world. Self-expression became a more common thing among women and thus works of literature and art such as The Awakening and Emma came to be. These two novels especially started a foundation for many other feminist artists and writers to build their platforms on and follow in the footsteps of the women and equal rights activists before them.

Chinese Feminist Art is not only different from traditional Chinese female art as it clearly emphasises on female characteristics, but also distinctive from western feminist art in the way that it embraces Chinese culture to the greatest extent. Unlike Western Feminist Art which is tightly

Imagine being in a museum on a casual day, the next exhibition happens to be just a normal saucer, spoon and dish covered in fur. What emotions would this arouse? Meret Oppenheim was born in 1913, leaving us in 1985 in accordance with Mansen. She was a very interesting artist of this time who expressed herself and ideas through the Surrealism Movement in more ways than one. Oppenheim used many materials in her pieces that were unique, touchable items. The artist then took these material items and used then to convey ideas to her audience and to get them to think beyond just what they saw. Finally, Oppenheim proved to society how women were mistreated during this time period in the art world and she shows these through her work. Meret Oppenheim is not afraid to show her audience disturbing images and make them experience disturbing thoughts. In these ways, Oppenheim fits well into the Surrealism Movement. Surrealism is taking an idea from one’s unconscious thought and expressing in a way, in this circumstance, the arts. Meret Oppenheim was a crucial member of the Surrealism Movement of the 1920’s and in design today because of her unconscious way of thinking, her use of material items in her artwork, and her acknowledgement of the woman’s role during the time.

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

Non-Place is a group exhibition of four artists based in different countries, bringing together the works of Andreas Gursky, Thomas Demand, Carla Klein and Xizi Liu. Those artists continued on traditional art forms: paintings and photographs, but their works that exist between distinct classifications. All of the artists search for a new type of space that resists the certainly of a conclusive ideology. The works in Non-place interrogates existent structures, and establishes new dialogues. The idea of non-places drives from the French historian Michel de Certeau 's Invention of everyday. Volume One (1974), but it is from the short but powerful text by the French anthropologist Marc Ange’s Non-Places: Introduce to an Anthropology of Supermodernit: