Feminist Art : Ryoko Suzuki And Ana Mendieta

H. Bertens describes female stereotypes to come under four labels “an immoral and dangerous seductress, the woman as the eternally dissatisfied shrew, the woman as cute but essentially helpless, the woman as unworldly, self-sacrificing angel and so on.” These labels were commonly found in both androtexts and gynotexts as feminist criticism’s attention drew towards female writers by giving them more prominence and esteem, yet they were found to both reject the traditional female form and “succumbed to the lure of stereotypical representations.” Christina Rossetti was one who was found to come under such scrutiny with her poems ‘Maude Clare’, ‘No, Thank You John’, and ‘In an Artist’s Studio’ to convey differing constructions of women.

Prehistoric and ancient artists represent men and women in various ways and the works of art tell an altered story, which reinforces old-fashioned gender roles. Additionally, representations of prehistoric and ancient genders illustrate the social standards of their specific periods. The views of gender presented by the works of art are still recognizable, despite all individual’s current sensibilities and views today. An individual’s contemporary view is of gender and gender rules illustrates the significant social progress that the human culture has made. Although the Woman of Willendorf and Kouros/Statue of standing Youth artworks were created at different times, the genders can still easily be depicted within the artwork.

This particular artwork could be interpreted as symbolic for identifying a future for sexual freedom of women; women being able to discuss themselves sexually, accept who they are and their individual beauty and the freedom to express female sexuality art, removing the stigma

The viewer can see and feel the bond between the mother and the child. I also think the artwork is beautiful and makes a deep impression on the viewer, because of the innocence and peaceful appearance of the infant. The woman has such an intense gaze with the way she is looking at the infant; it gives each viewer an opportunity to interpret it in their own way, concern or admiration, all part of motherhood. The woman’s body language is intriguing because she is replicating the infant’s arm position, maybe to find her own peace. In my search, I discovered that Berthe Morisot was a famous female artist in the 19th century, and in making a choice, this piece of art quickly caught my

In Frida Kahlo’s painting, A Few Small Nips, a woman lies mostly naked on white sheets. She has on one high-heeled shoe, and a rumpled sock. She has been sliced and poked by the knife that the man standing above her is holding. The sheets are covered in blood, her body is covered in blood, and the floor is covered in the blood. The woman is clearly dead, and the man standing above her is relaxed, pleased, with his left hand resting comfortably in his pocket. The expression on the man’s

The artist depicts an initial confusing and weirded-out thought for the viewer at first glance, but as one deeply examines the art, the subject matter begins to become more clear. The vision being shared in this non-objective painting has a context of placing one in the standing of Mr. Man by gaining height and freedom from the (white) bars that are rising on each level that represent conflict which traps one in a “cage” of misery. The unbalanced symmetry of having the left side take up more space with little action, and the right side being smaller with the action unraveling, makes the viewer break down each composite perspective. For the left side, the mysterious female muse, Moon-Face, has an unproportional face that is almost blushing with shades of light pasty orange, with the mouth wide open. The energetic mood is amplified by the tone of yellow that is splashed in the mouth, representing a loss of words or at a state of disbelief. The female’s lower half is created with tints of red that enhances the curves on her body, as if chiaroscuro connects the light and dark contrast to show outline of the breasts, stomach, and hips in

In the video, I learned about Kara Walker and how much illustarting the story of black history means to her in the form of drawings. When i first saw this image it made me think that the women was surprised by something or someone and she was falling down. The image made me smile and happy thinking this was a happy women "jumping for joy". Then I discovered Kara Walker's website and the name of this artwork is named "Cut". It is called "Cut" because Kara Walker drew a silhouette of a women cutting her wrist and now the thought I initially had is ruined. Kara Walker uses lots of shapes and lines in her silhouettes. She uses cross- hatching lines to illustrate the movement of the lady's blood. This visual element allows me to realize what Kara

In this work of art, the artist uses a realistic style of nature and strength. This art shows strength, beauty, peace, and happiness of a black woman and her son. In the painting the artist used light intense colors to describe the happiness in a black woman and dark colors to describe the downfall. The light colors appeared to be at the bottom and dark at the top, but you could see light colors throughout the painting. The artist used deep

Ana Mendieta (November 18, 1948 – September 8, 1985) was a Cuban American execution craftsman, stone worker, painter and video craftsman who is best known for her "earth-body" fine art. She was conceived in Havana, Mendieta touched base in the United States as an outcast in 1961, through operation Peter Pan. Her work was by and large personal and concentrated on topics including women's liberation, brutality, life, demise, and put, having a place, relocation and issues of character. Amid her lifetime, Mendieta created more than 200 masterpieces utilizing earth as a sculptural medium. She utilized her body and normal materials to indicate physical and profound association with earth. Her works are by and large connected with the four essential components of nature. Mendieta regularly centered around a profound and physical association with the Earth. Mendieta communicates effective all inclusive truths by utilizing subjects of birth, development, demise, and resurrection, which

The history of mankind has often been captured in snapshots between the rise and fall of great leaders and civilizations, by artists all with a common dream of portraying what they saw during their times. Ideologies reflective of their societies were depicted through sculptures, frescoes, pottery, paintings, and many other methods. Many of these principals were created, celebrated, and popularized by constituents of societies where andocentric values were applied not only to social and political mores, but also to the various art forms as the male body was cherished and praised and the female body was hidden away from public view. The book Feminism and Art History: Questioning the Litany edited by Norma Broude and Mary D. Garrad, strives

Further, it represents menstrual taboo within society. While erotic images of the naked female body are celebrated and embraced as in the collage. Womanhood is reviled openly because of this idea that naturally occurring biological cycles are repulsive and therefore women are also repulsive. The manner with which the one feminine figure takes the place of the man’s mouth represents that this idea of women as sexual beings is unspeakable. It relays that men enjoy the sensual nature of women, yet the topic should be suppressed.

She presents the performance with a series of 7 photos, the first four record the process involved the process of the transplant and the last three consist of Marty Sklar’s portrait and two of Ana Mendieta’s finished appearance, in two positions. Subjectively the artwork talks about issues of a gendered and sexist society and ideals of beauty. Mendieta shows the influence of cultural identity with gendered fashion ideals by the ironic portrayal of putting facial hair onto her face, which is the reverse to what majority of the population endure in their routine depilation process expected of them by society. Mendieta employs the use of three main elements of design to affectively portray her issues, such as colour, size, and lighting. In the performance colour is a significant use of design as it correlates as symbolism for blood which is a major theme in Mendieta’s work. She uses blood or symbols of blood to draw attention to issues of violence against women, and cultural identity. In the starting frame Mendieta is seen as smaller compared to her male friend but as the performance progresses the shot develops closer to her filling the frame until she is fully moustached shown equally alongside Sklar. Another significant element is the lighting composed of in the

Regardless of the difficulty, these artists have what it seemed as a successful art career. What is clear, the need to exhibit in a mainstream gallery or museum is not a priority, being consistence and creating a network is important. I do not believe any of these artists would turn away an exhibit in a mainstream gallery or museum. There is a great difference in the support network system in the 1970’s than today. For Picket and Washington there were black art organizations, which helped them enter the art world and in their personal life. There was a personal mentorship during the Black Feminist Art Movement that is not seen with artists today. I believe after the 1980’ the Black Feminist Art Movement started to slowly dismantle into more individual concerns. There is definitely a gap worth researching between the 1990’s to the present with the absent of the Black Feminist Art Movement. The two married artist Seneferu and Butler have very supportive husbands. Pickett and Washington already have a long established support system. James did not mention whether her marital status has any effect on her art career. One thing these five artists concurred, being a successful black female artist was about your connections and not always your race or sex. Still, the purpose of this research is not how successful black female artist are in their career, but rather it is about the deliberate exclusion from mainstream galleries and museums based on their sex and race.

The portrait is displayed horizontally with a gold trimmed frame. The subject is a female that looks to be in her early 20’s sitting upright on a large brown chair. If the viewer travels up the painting the first indication of the woman’s class is her satin, blue dress. The saturated blue shines and falls in the light like water. Paired with the dress are her exceptionally detailed endings to her sleeves. The lace is even painted as though it is translucent, allowing a little of the blue dress to show through the sleeve. Flowers throughout history have symbolized innocence of a woman and her virginity. The repeating theme of flowers, in the sleeve cuffs and ribbon) in the woman’s attired suggests her purity or innocent nature. Another very details section of the painting includes the corset/torso details. The sewing suggests texture in the torso with small beading in between. Towards the top of the chest in the center, the female seems to bear an extravagant, ribbon piece with a tear drop bead in the center. The light pink

The painting is of two versions of Frida Kahlo, closely gripping hands and sharing one heart between them. They are dressed in contrary clothing, with the Frida on the left dressed in modern European garb, while the other to the right is in traditional Mexican clothing. When viewing the painting, we are immediately attracted to the left Frida, who has nearly all of the light in the painting shining down on her. Her European clothing, popular in Mexico at the time, feels very constricting for both the subject and the viewer,specifically the collar grasping her neck so very tightly. Her upright and fragile stance and her almost limp grasp of the second Frida’s is understandable as we see the gaping hole where her heart should be. The pulsating anatomy of her wound bleeds into the room, while her face is completely indifferent. A single vein connects the hole in left Frida to the heart of right Frida. In left Frida’s unclenched hand, a delicate pair of scissors, indicating that she had wretched the heart out of her own bosom. It is this connection that guides us to the Frida to the right, but not before we notice the background behind them. A gray and cloudy backdrop that seems to embody Kahlo’s emotional state at the time, it is hard to distinguish the right Frida from its murky depths. A shadow presiding all around her, the right Frida is dressed in a traditional Mexican dress, with a posture and facial expression completely identical to the other Frida’s. The most eye-catching feature of hers, however, is the pulsating heart that the left Frida is lacking beating out of her chest. This gruesome and oblivious picture is made only more extraordinary when we make out the object right Frida is