A feminist postsecret

I absolutely love this. It is a youtube video similar to what the postsecret project does, but is exclusively for women. The video entitled “What are Your Dreams for Women?” asks for postcard art which to answer the question stated. The video shows some examples of what people have mailed into the Vancouver based group Antigone Magazine. This video brings up a lot of the issues we’ve discussed throughout our course in Women’s Studies, from images of femininity and beauty, gender, women’s bodies and health, women in politics, rape and violence. Through drawings, clippings from magazines, paint and decoupage a single postcard can be dramatically changed to point towards social action and a message. If you check out the Antigone Magazine website you can see even more examples. As you scroll down you’ll come to a scanned image of a typed letter, you can read about how this project has been used as a form of therapy for girls at an eating disorder hospital. Also, donations are taken to promote young women to be aware of politics and civil rights. I feel that this is the perfect post to end with, as it includes art and women’s issues all in one.

Lastly, in relation to our final project which needs some form of artistic muse or creation of our own, this could be an example of what you could come up with. I have also included the postsecret link for those of you who are interested. Enjoy!

Not for the faint of heart: The Penis Project

Straight from Okemos, Michigan, we have Sue Long, an artist who has embarked on a project centered on the penis. Click this link to check out her artist’s statement about why she’s constructing a lot of ceramic penises. What she seeks to accomplish through this is to treat the male sex organ the same what that women’s have been treated through media. It’s an interesting concept. If you would like to, click on the gallery at the right of the page and scroll down to the project link to check out the ceramics. You may be uncomfortable looking at them at first, because it’s something that isn’t seen a lot in the media. This of course is the point Sue Long is making, that unlike women’s breasts which are flaunted, the penis is kept under wraps. She asks if this is a form of power, and I can see how it is. After looking at them, you can see that she uses humor in her work, through the names of the pieces as well as a variety of glazes and types. Yet, I wonder does exploiting men the same way women are really help equalize the situation? Something to think about.

And lastly, Sue Long is the mother of a friend of mine.

“GENDER ALARM!” and “Brain Child” Canadian Exhibitions

This exhibition takes place in La Centrale Gallery in Montreal, Canada. The gallery was created by three women in 1973 who placed a billboard ad calling for women artists. Their goal was to meet and discuss the difficulties women artists face in being recognized in the art world. Now the gallery is one of the foremost feminist galleries and has recently reached out to include masculine studies, Third-World feminist and an emphasis on race, class and sex. Brain Child is the most recent exhibition, by Allyson Mitchell, which includes 1980s ceramic figurines, like Strawberry Shortcake displayed on the page. She uses these figurines to delve into our society’s notions of women’s intelligence. While seemingly innocent and childish, these toys and precious breakable figurines have a lot to say about the creation of childhood. Growing up I remember owning a few breakable dolls, and placing them on pedestals. I wish I could find more photos of these two exhibits, but they’re too current. And as I’ve discovered all semester that women artists such as these aren’t really sought after and recognized even in today’s media. Check out the links!

La Centrale Gallery website
Link to the current programs for the year

Another exhibition “Through Feminist Eyes”

I have been posting a lot of videos for this week, a little change from the usual webpages of article/artists. This exhibition entitled “Through Feminist Eyes” made possible through the University of New Mexico, occurred a little over two months ago. Judy Chicago and Meinrad Craighead actually juried the exhibition which is interesting to note. Go ahead and click on the actual university website and look over the winning pieces. Then click on the video of the actual exhibit. I’m sorry that it’s so loud and hard to hear at times, but take from it what you can. There you will see a few of the artists and their pieces. I think this is pretty amazing that they have an actual Feminist Research Institute on campus which is available to faculty, student and graduates and reaches out to other disciplines, such as art. The exhibition also includes some male artists, which proves that men can be just as important as women are in the feminist movement. I really liked Julianne Harvey's "The Nine Muses" and Julia Sapir's "Irene At The Beach." Enjoy!

She’s burning down the house: Edwina Sandys

“Burning Down the House: Building a Feminist Art Collection,” is an exhibit of more than fifty works at the Brooklyn Museum. This link will take you to an interview with Edwina Sandys, an artist featured at the exhibition. Here she talks about feminism and one of her on going pieces which is of a marriage bed. It is not just an interesting looking bed; it is so much more than that. Through this mixed media piece, you see both the cruel and loving sides depicted through the bed. For some marriage is sometimes bliss, but it can also be a nightmare for many. Sandys goes on to discuss how a woman’s purpose in life was created through her marriage to a man. Only through her husband was she given an identity, and that was an identity of companionship or servitude. I have also included the link to the Brooklyn Museum website where you can read more about the exhibition. You can click on “VIDEO” on the right to view more videos with other artists in the exhibition, the videos of Ida Applebroog and Tracey Moffatt were interesting to look at. Enjoy!

A very brief overlook of women artists

The link I have posted is entitled “Highlights from the National Museum of Women in the Arts” and is through the Washington Post. This short video is narrated by Judy L. Larson and shows a total of twelve works from the past and present which are included in the gallery. After you watch the video, click on the bottom where it stays “View Individual Images and Captions” so you can read a little about each piece and see who the artist is. Several of them are wives of famous artists like Pollock and de Kooning. Frida Kahlo is included also, as well as some newer pieces and newer mediums. The second piece in the slideshow is a place setting for Emily Dickinson from Judy Chicago’s “The Dinner Party.” (I did a post on “The Dinner Party” earlier this semester) Another piece I thought was interesting is the tenth painting entitled “A Gentleman’s Table” which shows an arrangement of “male” indulgences such as liquor and gambling. So enjoy, it’s a quick clip.

Photographer and film artist Lorna Simpson

While you don’t have to read the entire article I poseted on her work, do check out the pieces of her artwork that are displayed. It gives a really good overview of her work. I always struggle with which part of an artist’s career I should point out to you, either past or present work. But this shows just about everything she has done. A lot of the themes and topics Lorna Simpson focuses on include race, sex and gender. Violence and racial profiling are also a focus in her work. At first glance, some of her photographs resemble the line ups found in police offices, where a victim looks over the line. Other times there is a subtleness found in her landscapes or photos, like “The Staircase” and “Cloud.” My favorite are the “Corridor (Phone)” and the haunting “Untitled (2 Necklines)” which includes photo and text. The text “feel the ground sliding from under you” really adds to the piece, as her head and body are missing only her neck is present. Very moving.

Here is the article/review.
And here is a link to her personal site where you can view her current work. Enjoy!

Cindy Sherman, a photographer

Cindy Sherman is another well known woman artist. Her medium is photography, and in particular she began by photographing herself in what she deemed the “Untitled Film Stills.” In these stills she depicted herself in varying roles, and they’re set up like film stills. The link I provide comes from the MoMA website, or the Modern Museum of Art in New York, about their recently acquired photographs from the series in 1997. Through these photographs you see vivid portraits of how femininity was imagined and what women strived for around post WWII. She depicts many different scenes and many different characters in these photographs. From their poses to dress, a lot can be examined in her black and white photos. Her work with stills ended in 1980, and she began work using materials such as prosthetics and sex dolls to explore the almost grotesque through use of elements of disgust and decay. She is one to know.

Here is the link for the MoMA website. Click on the #s in the text to view some of her photos.
I don’t know why, but I am drawn to this photograph. It’s a little disturbing, but I can’t help myself.
Here are some other famous ones. Untitled 96, Untitled 21, and Untitled 86.

Nancy Spero is being honored...

via the National Women’s History Project (along with other women artists such as Faith Ringgold and Judy Chicago). She is best known for her participation with protest against the Vietnam War, Civil Rights movement and the women’s movement. Her work relates back to the idea of the “male gaze,” which showed films and other media from the male perspective. Nancy Spero has tried to move away from the “male gaze” to create a “woman’s vision.” However most of her work is seen as a protest against war and male dominance. She later uses the images of Medusa and Greek goddesses in her art. From animal rights to the abuse of women and the poor, she has done it all. Enclosed are links to the actual article for the women being honored at the National Women’s History Project site. The other link is to a collection of her artwork which spans from 1952 to 1996.

Link for the NWHP site.
Link for a viewing of Nancy Spero's work.
Youtube video of Spero talking about her work.