The Feminist Art Movement
Posted in Art & Style on October 18th, 2009 by Morgan ElizabethThe Feminist Art Movement has always coincided with the fight for equal rights, as a way to express emotions that may otherwise be difficult to articulate. Supporters of the movement use art to acknowledge societal pressures that women have faced, representing generations of feminists and the progression of women’s rights over the years.
This gallery takes a look at various forms of feminist art, and possible implications of each piece.
Cuban artist José Gómez Fresquet created this silkscreen circa 1970. It was “originally created as an antiwar statement in solidarity with Vietnamese women,” but can be interpreted in several other ways. Some view it as a statement on race and class, depicting a bloody Vietnamese woman alongside a well groomed, presumably Caucasian woman. The message may be that ethnicity predetermines a woman’s status and quality of life. [1]
Others may see this as a conflict between inner pain and external presentation. Women can feel pressure to put on beautiful, pleasant faces, and suppress any internal suffering.
Rachel Lachowicz often uses red, a very aggressive color, in her installations. She focuses almost entirely on women’s issues and the prevalence of double standards in society. Pictured above is an abstract representation of the glass ceiling, showing men’s suit ties hovering above a pair of lonely high heels. It suggests that the value of women in the workplace is inferior to that of male counterparts. Lachowicz’s other works include small urinals made of lipstick, and a reconfiguration of Michaelangelo’s David as a limbless torso colored fire-engine red. [2]
In 1974, photographer Suzy Lake created “A Genuine Simulation of… No.2,” representing the stages of makeup application. The model is transformed from a natural woman into a masked clown. With this series, Lake argues that beauty lies within authenticity, and that conforming to society’s perceptions of beauty can make you an artificial version of yourself. [3]
Kenyan artist Wangechi Mutu has an MFA from Yale University, with multimedia art exhibitions featured in museums around the country. Mutu described her artistic focus on women’s issues, by explaining, “I’m interested in how the female body is enhanced and contorted for historical and cultural purposes.”
This photo shows a woman bound by a skin-tight cap and a shirt that clasps around her neck. She’s covered in pink, but her face is masked by coarse, black sand. She then grits her teeth as a man’s hand clenches her jaw from out of frame. Echoed repeatedly are the themes of restriction and aggression, robbing this woman of identity. [4]
In her photographic trilogy “Bind,” Japan’s Ryoko Suzuki expresses the anguish that many Asian women endure within their oppressive society. They are blinded and silenced, bound by bloody ropes digging into their skin.
Eastern cultures, on the whole, tend to value men more than women. The Chinese, in an attempt to control population growth, often engaged in female infanticide, sex-selective abortion, and neglect of female children.[5] [6] Japan has seen a recent surge in sex crimes, yet the victims generally remain silent. Japanese porn often fetishizes rape, trivializing and encouraging aggression toward women. “To some men, rape is still a fantasy, rather than a crime,” says Tamie Kaino, a professor at Tokyo’s Ochanomizu University. These trends contribute to a culture characterized by the general dismissal of women’s rights. [7] [8]
With her installation “Wings Have No Home, 2006-7,” Italian artist Sissi suspended herself in New York’s Elizabeth Sackler Center for Feminist Art. Perched high above ground, confined within a gilded cage, she represents the women who feel trapped by traditional roles. Her suit may be gold, but it is made of weighted chain metal, repeating the theme of the installation in a subtler way. [9]
In 1969, Allen Jones created three fiberglass sculptures of objectified women. Stuck in compromising, implicitly sexual positions, these women are likened to household furniture pieces. “Chair” is pictured above, which accompanies “Table” and “Hatstand” in the series. The seat, in “Chair,” is conveniently located above her genitals, with the idea that women are often treated as inanimate sexual objects. [10]
Andrea Bowers created a two-channel video installation, where dejected brides recite Emma Goldman’s essay “Marriage and Love.” The duality of the brides “satirically comments on gender and racial stereotypes,” while expressing that “marriage is an oppressive institution of capitalism, and oppositional to love.” [11]
This photo was taken in 2007, when Jessica Hannah presented her mixed-media installation “Red Phone Showroom No.6.” The hair styles, clothing, and vintage telephones suggest a 1960’s reality for working women. Their jobs were usually secretarial and subservient in nature, characterized by monotony and a very low glass ceiling. [12]
Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos lovingly calls her piece “The Bride,” a chandelier comprised entirely of tampons. A light fixture that usually gives domesticity an air of elegance has been taken over by 14,000 feminine products, perhaps implying that women are expected to be both beautiful and domestically inclined, as well. The title also creates a relationship between matrimony and menstruation, suggesting that women are generally confined to the roles of wife and mother. [13]
Candice Raquel Lee uses sculpture to address “myth, meaning, and movement,” telling stories about “themes of humanity.” Her pieces usually address notable women of mythology, highlighting their struggles and metamorphoses.
“Fear” is pictured above, where a bronze woman shields herself with clenched fists. Her well-defined muscles show the contradiction between actual strength and perceived weakness. A buried face and tilted posture disengage from the world, while angry fists declare this fight isn’t over. Most importantly, her large arms, angular frame, and small breasts make her nearly androgynous. This implies that, regarding base-level emotions, men and women have far more commonalities than differences. [14]
North African photographer Zoulikha Bouabdellah creates her version of the platitude “See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil,” simply titled “Ni, Ni, Ni.” The woman holds a pot traditionally used for preparing couscous, a common food in North Africa. The series shows how domestic tasks can dull the senses, and even interfere with the ability to communicate. [15]
Hsia-Fei Chang installed her “Dirty Used Panties Market” to address the double standards women face regarding sex. Though women are objectified as sexual objects by the media, there is simultaneously an expectation for them to remain virginal and innocent. A woman with an active sex life may be branded a slut, both dirty and used. Her value to society is inversely proportional to the number of sexual partners she has.
This exhibit is full of actual dirty panties, symbols of the shame women face with frequent sexual activity. The sad woman conducting the sale also cradles a baby in her arms, showing that sometimes sex is sold out of financial necessity, for single mothers who need to support their children. [16]
Nancy Grossman’s “T.Y.V.L.” conjures up images of bondage and S&M. The eyes, mouth, and mind are zipped shut, suffocated and silenced by sexual fetish. [17]
Cecilie Dahl’s photo “My Dress Stained and I Was Relieved,” is intentionally misleading. It shows the profile of a woman’s bare torse, which at first appears to be wounded and bleeding. She is actually only covered with raspberries, blackberries and string. Most of the berries have burst, most of the string is unraveled, creating the illusion of deep cuts and a trail of blood.
The title likens the wounds to a stain on the dress that is her bare skin. This could represent hidden pain that manifests into self mutilation. It could also signify relief that comes from creating and embracing imperfections. [18]
“Blood Script” is Mary Coble’s tattoo performance piece, where she inscribed 75 of the most commonly used derogatory phrases attributed to women on her arm. The decorative font represents the “dichotomy between the beautiful visual form of the words and the ugly meanings they convey semantically.” Before her wounds dried, the words were imprinted on paper in blood. [19]
Nicaraguan artist Jessica Lagunas created “Dias Especiales (Special Days),” an installment that treats menstruation as a beautiful cycle, not something filled with “dirtiness and impurity,” as some cultures and religions may indicate.
These bed sheets have ten red dots, images based on “biopsies of vaginal tissue from different days of the menstrual cycle.” Women are generally taught to feel ashamed and embarrassed if their clothes or sheets get marked with blood. Lagunas rejects that concept, by deliberately marking the bed in celebration of this natural cycle. [20]
Yun Bai is known for mixed media reinterpretations of traditionally beautiful objects. In her flower series, she uses pornography to create stems and blossoms. This not only constructs beauty from crude material, but it questions the definition of beauty altogether. Is art still beautiful and respectable once you discover it’s made of porn? Is a woman still beautiful and respectable if she enjoys an active sex life? [21]
Feminism, like every cultural movement, prompts creative expression of social unrest. These artists are just a few of the many women and men who work in support of, and in reaction to, the progression of women’s rights.
Sources:
[1] Call For Art: Feminist Posters // Art-For-A-Change.com. April 27, 2007
[2] Rachel Lachowicz’s Feminist Art // The Lady Finger. January 9, 2009
[3] Art and the Feminist Revolution // View on Canadian Art. December 27, 2008
[4] Wangechi Mutu: Artist Biography // Brooklyn Museum, Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art
[5] Global Feminisms at Brooklyn Museum: Ryoko Suzuki, courtesy of the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography. March 30, 2007
[6] “Case Study: Female Infanticide” // Gendercide.org
[7] “Rape Debate in Japan” (Lauren Johnston). CBS World News. September 2, 2003
[8] “Japan Targets High Suicide Rate” (Associated Press) USA Today World News. May 29, 2007
[9] “Wings At Home” Pakistan’s Daily Times. March 24, 2007
[10] “Dictatorship and Everyday Life in the GDR” (Regine) We Make Money Not Art. May 23, 2007
[11] “Vows (Goldman, Emma. ‘Marriage and Love.’ New York: Mother Earth Publishing Association, 1910.)” // Brooklyn Museum, Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art
[12] CHI Weekly Events Calendar: Red Phone Showroom No.6. June 11, 2008
[13] “The Tampon Chandelier: For Ultra-Heavy Flow Only…” // Crafty Crafty. August 17, 2007
[14] Candace Raquel Lee: Lilith Gallery of Feminist Art
[15] “Ni, Ni, Ni” // Brooklyn Museum, Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art
[16] “Dirty Used Panties Market”// Brooklyn Museum, Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art
[17]“T.Y.V.L.” // Brooklyn Museum, Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art
[18] “My Dress Stained and I Was Relieved” // Brooklyn Museum, Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art
[19] “Blood Script” // Brooklyn Museum, Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art
[20] “Dias Especiales (Special Days)” // Brooklyn Museum, Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art
[21] “Beautiful Hoe Garden” // Brooklyn Museum, Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art