Women, Art and Feminism

Written: Here is my six and a halfish page rough draft essay. I still have to add two sources from our text book, but I included the reference for the anthology itself. I know there will be some, I just have to get around to looking them up and plugging them in somewhere. The references at the end look right in the paper... I just can't indent with the blog... anywho... This is by no means finished, and as typical of my drafts, it is very rough. I need to elaborate on certain spots and edit.

Design: As for the design portion, I'll probably choose some photograph or painting by a woman artist, one that displays some if not all of these themes. Then I'll do a little write up on how it relates to the topic. However, if I have time, I would like to make something! Perhaps postsecret style. However I don't see myself finding the time, but it could happen.

So... enjoy?

Women, Art and Feminism

Women have been denied the joys of many spheres throughout history. Up until recently have women finally been able to leave the house and go out into the public sphere. There are women doctors, athletes, soldiers and women out in the workforce. But what about women in the world of art? Think of your favorite artist or any artist for that matter. Is the artist you’re thinking of a woman? Chances are he’s not. If she is a woman, chances are she’s not that famous or even famous enough to be in a museum like the Met, according to the Guerrilla Girls “Less than 3% of the artists in the Met. Museum are women, but 83% of the nudes are female” (Guerrilla Girls). In this paper I will explore women in art, paying specific attention to feminist art. I will go over the history of women in art, discuss the current problems women artists are dealing with today, and point to where the future of feminist art and women in art is heading.

History of Women in Art and Feminist Art

As was the current ideology of women, their main sphere was in the home. This notion of womanhood has been around what seems forever. Since a woman’s place was only in her husband’s home with her family, she was not allowed to seek out work outside the home. One example of an early well known painter is Sofonisba Anguissola who lived from 1532 through 1625. As typical of an early woman painter, she was mainly able to do this because of her father who was a painter himself and a member of the nobility (Farber). Through her father, Anguissola had the family encouragement, as well as institutional help.

Institutional help is one of the main complaints, which Linda Nochlin discussed in her prominent article “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?” She first begins by asking the titles very question, which leads her to the two possible answers: the question of class and genius, which she both dismisses (157-8). Nochlin looks over etiquette books which depict women’s homely duties, which reinforce the notion that a woman’s place is in the home. She may have hobbies, which can include painting and embroidery, but her first priority is her family. So she cannot attend colleges, it would be a waste of time and money. Plus, if she did was ever allowed to take courses, there was one aspect or skill she could never attain.

Speeding forward to about two centuries ago, women began to question and try to enroll into art classes and schools. It wasn’t until 1827 that the first set of women given membership to the National Academy of Design School, and then four years later the school began to enroll women in courses (Ledes 26, 28). However, there was just one thing missing from these young women’s course loads, and that was life drawing. In life drawing courses, a nude model would pose for the students, which was inappropriate for women to see and study. However, it was deemed appropriate for females as well as males to pose in such classes. Nochlin states it best, “Deprived of encouragements, educational facilities and rewards, it is almost incredible that a certain percentage of women did persevere and seek a profession in the arts.” It was not until 1847 that women were able to attend such classes (Ledes 28).

Getting women into the academic world was the first step and one of the larger hurdles to overcome. This made way for other women to follow in the footsteps of other women. For the most part feminist art mirrored a lot of the issues feminism brought up throughout the years. However, feminist art didn’t come onto the playing field until the 1970s. Carey Lovelace gives the best description of feminist art, as a “gendered-based art with a political edge,” which makes complete sense (91). Thus the issues most women were grappling with at this time, included exposure, women’s experience, and the gendered-body. All of these can be grouped into one theme for the 1970s, and that is identity. The taken for granted notions of womanhood were questioned, and women artists displayed this in their art. Through the exposure of such feminine devices as tampons to everything pink, it was put on the easel.

Of course, as with 1970s feminism, the experience of African American women was one group which was not being represented. Before overcoming sexism, African American women needed to overcome racism, so the art they produced was different as it related to their additional form of inequality felt through experience. “It was not until the spring of 1971 that black women artist, as a whole, began to finally make a breakthrough,” stated Kay Brown in her article from 1998 “The Emergence of Black Women Artists: The 1970s, New York (45). This is not to say that racism is in the past, as well as sexism, these are still current issues felt even today.

The 1970s gave way for the 1980s, where the idea of “representation became the dominant focus” (Lippard 77). This was a more refined view of the identity crises felt in the 1970s. Representation encompassed questioning gender in other ways, such as the idea of “queer art” as well as looking over the older greatly visited themes but through a new lens. On a somber note, current politics and issues such as the introduction to the AIDS epidemic played a large role in art, as well as “many of the original feminist issues were reframed” (Lippard 77).

Next, the 1990s was characterized as a backlash period for feminism. Lies that women and men were equals, in the workforce for instance became a widely disputed fact and reaction to feminism. Thus artists looked back to earlier works for inspiration, and to delve into the issues and prove that there is still a lot of ground to be made in the movement. This is displayed in Lovelace’s comment that critics professed that the problem with feminist art was “victim art” (93). Clearly artists were not displaying themselves as empowered beings, and critics noticed this, and in a way critics felt that artists were just reiterating old themes of sexuality, gender issues, submissiveness and femininity. Following the 1990s, this leads us to the 21st century with the current issues and problems within the art world.

Current Themes and Problems in Art

As with the previous decade, currently artists in the 21st century are beginning to looking back at the earlier works of women artists for inspiration. However, as feminist art is a gendered art with political insights, whatever is going on politically will be addressed and reflected through their works. Issues artists are concerned with include “the global class struggle, with racism, with peace. . .” (Lippard 78). Currently we have been at war, for the past eight years, and so the issues of peace have been brought back to the attention of artists. The issues of class struggles within the third world, discrimination and peace have been analyzed by previous artists, but the emphasis on global issues will continue to be found in art, as our consciousness expands.

Another current hot topic is the environment. Going green is the new thing lately, and it is reflected through art, and feminist artists are noticing this as well. With global warming on the rise and alternative energy sources being a popular subject, the environment has been getting a lot of attention. As in the political spotlight environmental issues and the emergence of “eco-art” is being to make waves, as it is “all about claiming space for alternative value systems” (Lippard 78). It’s about exposure, and getting the word out so to speak and making people think about how they are using their resources and about the effects nature is facing. Issues like the ownership of water sources, recycling, and reducing air born emissions are just a few which have been addressed.

One of the last issues Lippard addresses is the fact that women’s bodies are still areas of dispute, even today, “created in the midst of religious fundamentalism, nationalism and war. Our bodies are still battlegrounds” (79). This is not surprising, as the issues of pro-choice/pro-life have been currently at odds, and have been prominent issues in our latest election. With this happening politically and nationwide, it is no surprise that the body and women’s rights are still at odds to be disputed and it is reflected in works of art. Artists are still grappling with these issues, because of current turmoil.

Lastly, there is still problem that Nochlin noticed three decades earlier, of the fact that there are no great women artists. Event today, well-known woman artists and feminist artists are really only known within a certain group, that being those within the field which pays particular attention to them. Women artists like Judy Chicago, Faith Ringgold, Cindy Sherman, Nancy Spero and Lorna Simpson have only become known to me because of this project. I never would have been able to delve into their work and as a result I would have never been able to recognize their names and subjects and each woman’s specific focus. Even today, women artists still need to be noticed, and placed in prominent museums, instead of having to create their own galleries like “WACK!” So have women really picked up much ground, or have we not really addressed the root issues if we’re still examining old feminist art topics?

Future Solutions and Where Feminist Art is Heading

Talk about body issues and the reexamination of old issues is particularly insightful from Christabel Wiebe in her article “What’s a Girl to Do?” After viewing the “WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution” art exhibit, she had a few things to get off of her chest, “We may like to entertain the notion that we have moved beyond body issues, identity politics and a patriarchal world order, but let’s not kid ourselves” (Wiebe 114). While women have made waves of improvements, the issues are still there, but we’ve taken in what we’ve learned and are now looking at the issues through a different lens so to speak. Wiebe states that our feelings on things like makeup have changed; they’re now viewed as empowering and as a pleasure, “our values have shifted a little” (114). So are we really past the issues brought up in the past, certainly no, but we’re till facing them and learning.

One last great point Wiebe makes is in her discussion of perspectives and incomplete histories. She states that galleries and shows “raise more questions about how the presentation of those histories is imperfect, so that other artists come to light and more work is done” (116). Later artists pick up where the previous ones left off, and in turn help add more to the history and mural of women’s experienced lives. It is this idea that history seen through women’s perspective is a continuing journey and will always be rewritten, and reexamined. In a way it is not static but always changing and discovering.

As for the future of feminist art, looking towards the current issues such as the environment, global issues of poverty and world hunger, as well as those felt at home are developing subjects for artists, which they are currently grappling with. The idea of the world or a global perspective has already been hinted at recently. Most notably there has been a call to concentration on “the insecurity of labor in the global economy” (Lippard 79). Globalization has been a hot topic as well as the internet and cyberspace. One other aspect that has brought about globalization, and the issues that follow it, has been the topic of many which is our ever reliance on technology and how fast we have advanced these technologies. As history has shown, art in general follows a nations political and social issues, and so will feminist art.

Conclusion

After going through the past forty years of art in relation to women and feminism, there is one overriding theme which connects them, and that is that these issues of women’s bodies, identities, power and femininity never seem to go away. There is also the theme of art mirroring current activist projections and political concerns. It has been said that artists are able to pick up on social changes and are the first to question such institutions. Overall, as a whole with each decade, the questions and topics of concern are thought about through a different set of eyes, which perhaps is taken for granted at times. Hopefully this mini review of the history of women in art and feminist art, current issues and problems and future projections of women in art and feminist art has been helpful.

References

Brown, Kay. “The Emergence of Black Women Artists: The 1970s, New York.” International
Review of African American Art. 15.1 (1998): 45-52.

Farber, Dr. Allen. Language of the Visual Arts. Sofonisba Anguissola. Fall 2008. Dept. of Fine
Arts, State University of New York. 1 Dec. 2008. <http://employees.oneonta.edu/farberas/arth/arth200/artist/sofonisba.htm>.

Guerrilla Girls. Do Women Have to be naked to get into U.S. Museums? 2007. Guerrilla Girls, Inc. 1 Dec. 2007 .<http://www.guerrillagirls.com/posters/getnakedshanghai.shtml>.

Kesselman, Amy, Lily D. McNair, Nancy Schniedewind, and Suzanne Kelly, eds. Women: Images and Realities, A Multicultural Anthology. 4th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2008.

Ledes, Allison Eckardt. “Women Artists in New York City.” The Magazine Antiques. 164.3 (2003): 26, 28.

Lippard, Lucy. “Issues & Commentary: No Regrets.” Art in America. 95.6 (2007): 75-79.

Lovelace, Carey. “Feminist Group Shows: Girls, Girls, Girls.” Art in America. 95.6 (2007): 88-91.

Nochlin, Linda. “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?” Women, Art, and Power: and Other Essays. New York: Harper & Row, 1988.

Wiebe, Christabel. “What’s a Girl to Do?” Border Crossings. 26.3 (2007): 112-117.