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Facing Gender Constructions and Feminist Art 

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Facing Gender Constructions and Feminist Art 

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Gender Inequality and Feminist Art is an exhibition I created in order to raise awareness about the way gender is portrayed in art. For my final project I collected several artists such as Roy Lichtenstein, and Judy Chicago. I collected several artists in my exhibition order to bring awareness to the way that women are treated in today’s society through art. This exhibition is intended to evoke conversation and awareness within the community about women’s rights.

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American pop artist, Roy Lichtenstein was best known for his comic book like works where he would take previous comic works of art and recreate his own version of the piece by altering it through pop art. One of his most famous pieces, Drowning Girl, is a remake of a comic called Run for Love! Which appeared in DC comics in 1962.  Using his famous system of ben-day-dots, he recreated the comic into a painting, and changed the words to make the woman’s story entirely different. The caption in the speech bubble “I don’t care! I’d rather sink than call brad for help” is playing on the theme of women becoming independent in the 60’s. The woman in the piece is confronting the viewer by challenging the hetero normal relationship where the woman is dependent on the man in helpless situations. I chose to incorporate this piece in my exhibition because it the form and content of the piece communicates the strength and independence of women, and how we should not rely on men. This work of art differs from the other works in the exhibition because it is putting forth the power of women through confronting the viewer through text, which was a major part of pop-art.

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Jessica Ledwich, Monstrous Feminine, series, 2014, photographs.

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Jessica Ledwich, Monstrous Feminine, series, 2014, photographs.

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Jessica Ledwich’s series of photographs, Monsterous Feminine, is a series of photographs, which highlight the importance of gender in the significance of women’s beauty and the pain involved in these beauty rituals. Jessica Ledwhich’s series is inspired by the term “monstrous feminine” coined by Barbara Creed. The way that media idealizes women in todays society has forced us to become obsessed with physical appearance, and has resulted in self destruction in the beauty culture. The image I chose in particular, of the women in the tanning bed stuck out the most to me because of how the skin on the woman is burning and deteriorating. The value that society places on consumerism and perfection within physical appearance has shaped the way women live today. This series of images focuses on how these rituals are self preformed engagements, in which emotional and physical destruction are taking place. Women feel that they need to sculpt their bodies to ideal perfection, ultimately dehumanizing the body. I chose to place this piece in the exhibition because it is directly confronting and making awareness of the gender construct of women’s beauty.

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Mary Beth Edelson, Some Living American Woman Artists, 1972, Lithograph.

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Mary Beth Edelson, Some Living American Woman Artists, 1972, Lithograph.

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Some Living American Women Artists, by Mary Beth Edelson, is an appropriation of the last supper, putting all women artists at one table. The last supper is a representation of the “beginning”, and Edelson is replacing the story with women artists as the origin, as the beginning of art and how artists are able to challenge the divine. A significant aspect of this piece is that it is not a painting, but it is a lithograph made of material. This piece is intentionally challenging pre-existing images of women and destabilizing the traditional notions of art. Edelson wants her viewers to acknowledge women as artists and place in art history, by placing only women at this table rather than the original image of men. I chose to incorporate this piece in the exhibition because it is a piece from the Feminist Art Movement, which began in 1970’s in US & Britain. Although it wasn’t a specific style or movement, the content of the artwork during this period is what was revolutionary rather than the form. This piece, like the other pieces in the exhibition is intentionally confronting its viewer with the issues of gender inequality by paying a respect towards women artists and putting them as the origin.

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Andrea Mary Marshall, Vague Series, "The Demoisells d' Avignon Issue" 2016

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Andrea Mary Marshall, Vague Series, "The Demoisells d' Avignon Issue" 2016

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Andrea Mary Marshall created a series of mixed media based on the vagueness of the way women are depicted on the cover of Vogue magazine. Vogue magazine is so widely distributed around different parts of the world, that it sets a beauty standard and gender identity for women.  Marshall took specific covers and made them her own, by intentionally dehumanizing the women figures. In this piece, the women’s bodies are distorted figures, their breasts are intentionally defined by hard lines, and the faces are the only parts of the women with detail. She incorporates an image of an African American woman in the top right by putting a mask like face over her brown skin. I chose to incorporate this piece in the exhibition because Marshall wants to confront the viewer by blatantly dehumanizing the women on the cover, showing women that we cannot possibly live up to these standards of “beauty”.

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Judy Chicago, The Dinner Party, 1974-1979.

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Judy Chicago, The Dinner Party, 1974-1979.

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Judy Chicago’s The Dinner Party is a famous piece, which came from the feminist art movement in 1974-1979. The installation is a triangle shape, 48ft long on each side. There are 13 place settings on each side. This number was intentional because women are supposed to menstrate 13 times a year, and each place setting was given a plate that resembled the image of a vagina. Mythical and historical woman were seated at the table, and over 400 people collaborated in the work, mostly volunteers. This piece is in the exhibition because it is directly sending a message about femininity. There is no real hidden message other than that the women that marked history at this table all hold a similar power, their genitalia. The piece is sending a message of the power of femininity and that all women have a common ground, to sit around this table and share their accomplishments. The content of the work, each china plate, is a different sculpture of a vulva, communicating womanhood and the power and beauty of being a woman.