Feminist intervention. Final
When looking at the female in Arts there has always been a certain
look portrayed in the past be it, purity or voyeuristic objectification
simply for the male's pleasure.
Elder Pollock asks the question about sexism looking at how
women are portrayed by men in history, excluding women. When
looking at historical art and women, it is often a polite, non-direct
subtle sexism showing the angelic presence and purity. The modern
pursuit of women in art by women is very direct. It is women
showing themselves how they want to show themselves, some
could say breaking free, rebelling from the ideas or being different
breaking the chains from how women wish to show themselves.
However, it is great that the female artists liberate women. The
middle finger that appears to be going up with this work is like Wee
on the Carpet by the artist Erwin Wurm from Austrian which
makes me think of what was known as the Ladette era of women
pushing the boundaries. The photograph ‘Wee on the Carpet’
shows the rawness of a woman just letting go on the carpet. This
pushes the traditional ideas of a women questioning beauty
standards and manners and almost feels rebellious to what is
referred to as the male gaze. The image of Erwin Wurm with the
image of a lazy looking sexually seductive woman spitting
something into a teacup echoes a time in the 90s called the Ladette
era where women would drink alcohol and get trashed.
In another image of his where there is a lady with a skirt and heels
on and just ******* on the floor. It is all about the woman taking
control of how she is perceived, how she wishes to be seen within
art and pulling away from the symbolic purity, the subtly sexy, to
now just standing there, letting it all hang out for the world to see
warts and all. This explores the identity of a woman exploring and
rebelling against the restriction and the barriers, forcing us to look
at these images and question potential beliefs and ideas that we
have as women and the chains potentially put on from the outlook
of a man.
Jenny Saville’s painting titled ‘Propped’ is a striking piece that goes
against the beauty stereotypes with a large lady painted with her
body not looking like the perfect female being light as a feather.
This is a woman going against what a woman is thought of as being perfect.
